Philip has a very interesting history. Through monuments and books, the people in the community have preserved much of their heritage and recognized important people in the past. While this page does not contain all of Philip's history it does have information about several important aspects, and contain some very interesting photographs, courtesy of the South Dakota State Historical Society.

James (Scotty) Philip - Whom the city was named for as well as the man who saved the buffalo.

Haakon County - Named in 1905 after King Haakon VII of Norway because many of the pioneers in the area were of Scandinavian descent.

Historic Sights - Places of importance and commemoration in the Philip area.

Selected statistical information is listed below. You can also view most up to date report on the community profile from South Dakota Governor's office of Economic Development by clicking this link

Location

Latitude: 44.04 N, Longitude: 101.67 W
Elevation: 2162 feet, Land area: 0.6 square miles

Nearest cities: Cottonwood, SD (17.2 miles) , Kadoka, SD (17.7 miles ), Belvidere, SD (30.6 miles) , Interior, SD (30.8 miles) , Quinn, SD (31.9 miles) , Wanblee, SD (32.5 miles ), Midland, SD (35.1 miles) , Wall, SD  (39.6 miles ).

Nearest city with pop. 50,000+: Rapid City, SD  (107.4 miles , pop. 59,607).
Nearest city with pop. 200,000+: Aurora, CO  (370.0 miles , pop. 276,393).
Nearest city with pop. 1,000,000+: Dallas, TX  (846.6 miles , pop. 1,188,580).

Population (structure)

Population: 885.
Males: 408 (46.1%), Females: 477 (53.9%)
Median resident age: 42.4 years

Races in Philip:

• White Non-Hispanic (94.4%)
• American Indian (3.8%)
• Hispanic (1.4%)
• Two or more races (1.0%)
  

For population 25 years and over in Philip

• High school or higher: 82.9%
• Bachelor's degree or higher: 18.3%
• Graduate or professional degree: 5.9%
• Unemployed: 4.8%

Mean travel time to work: 10.2 minutes

For population 15 years and over in Philip:

• Never married: 20.3%
• Now married: 61.0%
• Separated: 0.0%
• Widowed: 13.0%
• Divorced: 5.7%

1.0% Foreign born