Haakon County, South Dakota

Haakon County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,872. Its county seat is Philip.

History

The county was created in 1914 and organized in 1915, and was formed from the original counties of Nowlin and most of Sterling, which had previously been absorbed by Stanley County. It is named for Haakon VII, who became king of Norway in 1905, in order to attract Norwegian settlers to the county. It is the only county in South Dakota named for a non-American person and is one of only nine counties in South Dakota named for persons who did not live in South Dakota. Most of South Dakota's counties are named for early South Dakota officials or legislators, or for physical features (Fall River and Lake), or are derived from Native American words (Minnehaha and Yankton), or from counties in other states (Jones and Walworth), with one (Aurora) named for a Roman goddess, one for an animal (Buffalo), and one (Union) for a concept.

Geography

The terrain of Haakon County consists of semi-arid rolling hills, carved with gullies and drainages, partially devoted to agriculture. The Cheyenne River, a tributary of the Missouri River, flows northeastward along the county's north boundary line, and the Bad River flows east-northeastward through the lower part of the county, both heading for their discharge points into the Missouri. The terrain slopes to the northeast, and its highest point is near the midpoint of its western boundary line, at ASL.

Haakon County has a total area of , of which is land and (0.9%) is water.

The eastern portion of South Dakota's counties (48 of 66) observe Central Time; the western counties (18 of 66) observe Mountain Time. Haakon County is the easternmost of the SD counties to observe Mountain Time.

Major highways

20px U.S. Highway 14
20px South Dakota Highway 34
20px South Dakota Highway 63
20px South Dakota Highway 73

Adjacent counties

Ziebach County – north
Stanley County – east
Jones County – southeast (observes Central Time)
Jackson County – south
Pennington County – west

Protected areas

Billsburg State Game Production Area
Cheyenne State Game Production Area (part)

Lakes

Source:

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|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<br>1790–1960 1900–1990<br>1990–2000 2010–2020

The population density was .

Of the 773 households, 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 18.5% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Education

School districts include Haakon School District 27-1 and Kadoka School District 35-2.