Place:Sheldon, O'Brien, Iowa, United States

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NameSheldon
TypeCity
Coordinates43.181°N 95.848°W
Located inO'Brien, Iowa, United States
Contained Places
Cemetery
East Lawn Cemetery
Roseland Cemetery
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Sheldon is a city in O'Brien and Sioux counties in the U.S. state of Iowa, along the Floyd River. The population was 5,512 at the time of the 2020 census; it is the largest city in O'Brien County.

History and culture

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Sheldon got its start in the year 1873, following construction of the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad through that territory. It was named for Israel Sheldon, a railroad promoter. It was a strategic location on the rail for businesses from as far away as Minneapolis and Omaha.

Today, the city lies at the crossroads of Iowa Highway 60 and U.S. Route 18. The city's first financial institution, the Sheldon State Bank, closed in 1903. In 1961, the city made headlines when it was revealed that Burnice Geiger had embezzled more than two million dollars from the Sheldon National Bank, operated by her father. Geiger worked there as a cashier and was the bank's largest stockholder. She was sentenced to fifteen years in prison in the same year, but paroled in 1966. Today, the city is most known for its annual display of marigolds and the moniker of its local schools' athletic teams—the Orabs. The name stands for the school colors orange and black. Sheldon High School also hosts the Sheldon High School Summer Theatre program. Sheldon is the home of Northwest Iowa Community College and the Carnegie Library, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

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