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History · Philip

Philip’s post office opened in 1891, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the Waddell Block and the Haakon County Courthouse. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1910.

1891first post office
2on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Philip’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Philip began

When was Philip founded?

1891

The Philip post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1907.

First census: 578 in 19102020 census: 759135 years
Founding year: the first Philip post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1907.The full story ↓

What stands out about Philip’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 1,114 in 1960; 759 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · People over time

Philip, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,114

Peaked at 1,114 in 1960; 759 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Philip’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Philip came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Philip.

Read it all →

Philip was laid out in 1907 when the Chicago and North Western Railway was extended to that point. It was incorporated in 1908. In 1914, Philip was designated seat of the newly formed Haakon County. The city was named for James "Scotty" Philip; the local high school mascot is the Scotch terrier, or "Scottie", in his honor.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Philip, 1891 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891Post officeThe Philip post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909In the archiveMain Street
  5. 1936Born herePatrick Henry Brady is born here
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,114
By decade

Philip, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s6 items
Main Street1909Main StreetMain Street1909Main StreetGeneral view of Philip, S. Dak1909General view of Philip, S. DakScene on Bad River1909Scene on Bad RiverBridge over Bad River1909Bridge over Bad RiverBirds eye view of Philip, S. Dak1909Birds eye view of Philip, S. Dak
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today6 recent
Rangeland Days 2012 - Plant Identification2012Rangeland Days 2012 - Plant IdentificationRangeland Days 2012 - Determining the Ecological Site2012Rangeland Days 2012 - Determining the Ecological SiteRangeland Days 2012 - - Range-ecological Site Identification2012Rangeland Days 2012 - - Range-ecological Site Identif…Waddell Block2010Waddell BlockStock yards sign, South Dakota2009Stock yards sign, South DakotaSDMap-doton-Philip2004SDMap-doton-Philip
On the map

Philip on the map, 1953 to 1980

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Philip. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Philip on the 1953 USGS mapPhilip on the 1980 USGS map1953Philip sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Philip.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Main Street
Retake this viewMain Street, 1909

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Philip’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Philip

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2010
Waddell Block
Waddell BlockHaakon County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Commercial Style1
Waddell BlockCommercial Style
All 2 listings
Haakon County CourthouseBuilding · listed 2019

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Finish Philip’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMain Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Philip’s history

What year was Philip founded?

The Philip post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1907.

What is on the National Register in Philip?

Two places: the Waddell Block (listed 2010) and the Haakon County Courthouse (2019).

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 Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (7), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.