Philadelphia, city, seat (1833) of Neshoba county, east-central Mississippi, U.S., and headquarters of the Choctaw Indian Agency, 80 miles (130 km) northeast of Jackson. It was settled on an old Native American site, Aloon Looanshaw, following the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (1830) and was named for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The agency was established in 1918, and the majority of the state’s several thousand Choctaw live in the vicinity. The Choctaw run a comprehensive elementary and secondary school system on reservation land just west of the city. In 1964 Philadelphia received national attention when three civil rights workers, murdered during a voter registration drive, were found buried nearby. The city’s manufactures include textiles, electric motors, automotive parts, and lumber products. The Choctaw Indian Fair is an annual summer event. Nanih Waiya State Park, home to a sacred Choctaw Indian mound, is northeast of the city. Inc. 1906. Pop. (2000) 7,303; (2010) 7,477.