Sheldon is a city in O'Brien and Sioux counties in the U.S. state of Iowa, along the Floyd River.

[2] Sheldon got its start in the year 1873, following construction of the Sioux City & St. Paul Railroad through that territory.

[4] It was a strategic location on the rail for businesses from as far away as Minneapolis and Omaha, after the addition of the intersection with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway in 1878.

Today, the city lies at the crossroads of Iowa Highway 60 and U.S. Route 18.

Eastbound and westbound rail service is provided by IC&E Railroad (since 2008 a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific Railway), while northbound and southbound service is provided by Union Pacific Railroad.

[6] The city's first financial institution, the Sheldon State Bank, closed in 1903.

[7] 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.

[12][13] Today, the city is most known for its annual display of marigolds and the moniker of its local schools' athletic teams—the Orabs.

Sheldon was 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".

[14] The record jacket—featuring Snyder in now-outdated hair and clothes—has made the LP popular on websites that highlight unusual-looking album covers.

(Snyder retired as pastor in 2018 and was elected to the Sheldon city council in 2021.

[16] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.50 square miles (11.65 km2), all land.