Sheldon Map
Sheldon is a city in O'Brien and Sioux Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa, along the Floyd River. The population was 4,914 at the 2000 census; it is the largest city in O'Brien County.
Sheldon was founded in 1872 and named after the railroad man Israel Sheldon. It was early a strategic location on the rail for businesses from as far away as Minneapolis and Omaha. Today, the city is at the crossroads of Iowa Highway 60 and U.S. Highway 18. In 1961, the city made headlines when it was revealed that Burnice Geiger had embezzled more than two million dollars from her father's bank. Today, the city is most known for its annual display of marigolds and the moniker of its local schools' athletic teams - the ORABS. Sheldon High School also hosts the Sheldon High School Summer Theatre program. Sheldon is the home of Northwest Iowa Community College and Village Northwest Unlimited. Sheldon, Iowa was briefly mentioned in the Jack Kerouac novel On the Road. (Shelton, Iowa is mentioned on page 18 as the place that Eddie hates ever since he stepped out on the platform to smoke, and references Davenport and the Rock Island train, so this is most likely a fictional town near the Quad Cities.) Sheldon was also mentioned on page 13 of the Tim O'Brien book If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home: "Together we watched trombones and crepe-paper floats move down mainstreet. The bands and floats represented Sheldon, Tyler, Sibley, Jackson, and a dozen other neighboring towns".
Sheldon is located at 43°10?52?N 95°50?53?W / 43.18111°N 95.84806°W / 43.18111; -95.84806 (43.181180, -95.848123).
Nearby cities include Primghar, George, Melvin, Granville, Hull.