Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Sheldon

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Sheldon

Sheldon’s post office opened in 1854, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: old-book passages.

1854first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Sheldon began

When was Sheldon founded?

1854

The Sheldon post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Oil City (1873), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 649172 years
Founding year: the first Sheldon post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sheldon’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Sheldon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sheldon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sheldon’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Sheldon, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Sheldon yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Sheldon is a town in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 649 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated community of Oil City, Wisconsin is located within the town of Sheldon.

Its first post office opened in 1854. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 727 to 649 (-11%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Sheldon in 1912

Passages that mention Sheldon, cut from the printed page as they were published.

This town was cut off from the town of Sheldon on November 13, 1856, by resolution of the county board; its early history is comprised somewhat in that of the town of Sheldon and its records have not been available for preparing this article.
History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present1912 · page 537Read the page →
Read the text

This town was cut off from the town of Sheldon on November 13, 1856, by resolution of the county board; its early history is comprised somewhat in that of the town of Sheldon and its records have not been available for preparing this article.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This town was eut off from the town of Sheldon on November 13, 1856, by resolution of the county board; its early history is eoniprised somewhat in that of the town of Sheldon and its records have not been available for preparing this article.
History of Monroe County Wisconsin1912 · page 559Read the page →
Read the text

This town was eut off from the town of Sheldon on November 13, 1856, by resolution of the county board; its early history is eoniprised somewhat in that of the town of Sheldon and its records have not been available for preparing this article.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
eounty at which the early settlements were made, in anything like chronological order. It is certain, however, that the first settlement in the county was near what is now known as Oil City in the town of Sheldon, and Esau Johnson, who located on the Kickapoo in that town on the Ist day of October,…
History of Monroe County Wisconsin1912 · page 63Read the page →
Read the text

eounty at which the early settlements were made, in anything like chronological order. It is certain, however, that the first settlement in the county was near what is now known as Oil City in the town of Sheldon, and Esau Johnson, who located on the Kickapoo in that town on the Ist day of October, 1842, was the first white man who made his home in the county of Monroe.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Sheldon, 1854 to 1902

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Sheldon post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe Sheldon post office closes
  4. 1860Post officeThe Sheldon post office opens
  5. 1871Post officeThe Sheldon post office closes
  6. 1873Post officeThe Oil City post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1902Post officeThe Oil City post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
Famous people

Famous people close to Sheldon

Nobody well known was born in Sheldon itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Deke SlaytonAmerican astronaut · b. 1924
Marc MitscherUnited States admiral · b. 1887
Doane RobinsonAmerican historian · b. 1856
Edgar Stillman KelleyAmerican composer, conductor, teacher, and writ… · b. 1857
Frank KingAmerican cartoonist · b. 1883
R
Robert Herman FlockAmerican Roman-Catholic bishop working in Boliv… · b. 1956
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Sheldon had its own post office from 1854 to 1857. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sheldon
1854–1857
Sheldon
1860–1871
Oil City
1873–1902
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Oil City
Gone or out of use
Lower Brush Creek Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sheldon
HomeWanderers Rest

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

JeffersonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOntario1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWhitestownIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWellingtonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRidgevilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sheldon’s history

What year was Sheldon founded?

The Sheldon post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.