Formed January 1, 1914 (65th county)
Haakon County (1,876), Philip (761)
The tan brick Art Deco and Prairie courthouse was built in 1930 on Howard Avenue between Oak and Pine streets. South Dakota State Highway 73 is one block to the east of the site. Perkins & McWayne were the architects. Veteran memorials are on the grounds. The county was established on January 1, 1914 as the 65th county with Philip as the only county seat. The county is named for Haakon VII of Denmark. Philip is named for local settler James Philip.
Haakon County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners. Three Circuit Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve Haakon, Bennett, Gregory, Hughes, Hyde, Jackson, Jones, Lyman, Mellette, Potter, Stanley, Sully, Todd, and Tripp counties. The county is in the western part of South Dakota. Pierre, South Dakota is east and Rapid City, South Dakota is west of the county. The county center is 22 miles Northeast of Philip nearer Ottumwa. The county is surrounded clockwise by Ziebach, Dewey, Stanley, Jones, Jackson, Pennington, and Meade counties.
The area of the county is 1813 square miles. It is 11 out of 66 in the state. It ranks 60 out of 66 in population in the state. It has a density of 1.0 persons per square mile making it 63 out of 66 in the state. Haakon County has 46.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 14 enters the county from the east, Stanley County, and exits to the south, Jackson County. The county resembles a fat capital letter L with the top eaten away. Philip is located near the southern border of the county. Philip is the county seat and the largest city. It is 40.6% of the county population. The county is pronounced HA-KON.
Midland
Philip
