In his heyday, David Rittenhouse was the man. An astronomer and clockmaker, Rittenhouse was one of the top scientists of the 18th century, and he later became treasurer of Pennsylvania and the first director of the U.S. Mint.

Rittenhouse Square Park, named after David Rittenhouse, is pretty famous, too. Maybe it’s the prolific nature of David Rittenhouse’s work, or maybe it’s just the real estate, but the name Rittenhouse has spread out of the Rittenhouse Square area — and even out of Philadelphia.

We’re calling it “Rittenhouse Creep.” And it’s a real thing. There’s a Rittenhouse apartment complex near the University of Delaware. There’s a Rittenhouse real estate company in Harleysville and a Rittenhouse Delicatessen in Ardmore. There’s most notably a nursing home called the Rittenhouse Pine Center in Norristown near the David Rittenhouse Junior High School.

The Rittenhouse Square neighborhood is loosely bounded between Market and South streets to the north and south, Broad Street to the east and 21st Street to the west. Some consider the Fitler Square area to be a part of Rittenhouse, but for this exercise, it’s pretty irrelevant. Here’s the area that’s basically considered to be the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood (and you’ll notice the park is smack in the center):

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We found about a dozen places called “Rittenhouse” located throughout the region. Surely, there are more. But here’s what we were able to track down:

Bucks County

Rittenhouse Home

Did your mother ever tell you the saying: “If you have to ask the price, you probably can’t afford it?” Well, no prices are listed on this here website of Rittenhouse Home, a “Luxury Furniture and Home Decor” shop located at 17 N. State Street in Newtown. May the odds be ever in your favor.

Chester County

Rittenhouse Builders

“Building is Fun with Rittenhouse Builders!” No, seriously, these general contractors out of Coatesville are called Rittenhouse Builders. (In all honesty, looks like they’ve done some really nice projects on suburban homes in southeastern PA.)

Montgomery County

David Rittenhouse Junior High

This one’s fair game. Like we said, David Rittenhouse. Smart dude. This junior high school is located in Norristown actually closed in the 1980’s, but it’s on the National Register of Historic Places as it was built in 1928. It’s now an apartment home for seniors.

Rittenhouse Property Management

Located in Harleysville, this management company works with both residential and commercial real estate. We also just love the town name of Harleysville.

Rittenhouse Delicatessen

Actually this deli in Ardmore is somehow way more than a deli. It also has a secondary Mexican (?) menu and a cooler where you can mix your own six pack. Also Yelp says they have “good pickles.” We’ll take their word for it. It’s located at 68 Rittenhouse Place, natch.

Rittenhouse Book Distributors

Kudos to this book distribution business in King of Prussia. They own Rittenhouse.com. This company provides texts in the areas of medicine, nursing and health.

Rittenhouse Pine Center

This place is a nursing home located in Norristown. And it apparently has a spa. Luxurious? Definitely maybe.

New Jersey

Rittenhouse at Locust Grove

Described as “an intimate community called ‘home’ by 154 families,” the Rittenhouse at Locust Grove is a collection of town homes in Deptford, N.J. Hopefully no one rented here expecting to neighbors with the Philadelphia rich and famous.

Rittenhouse Sq.

Yes, there is a street called Rittenhouse Square in Sicklerville, N.J. And you can live there in a four-bedroom, three-bath home up for sale for just $324,900.

Delaware

Rittenhouse Station Apartments

Poor Rittenhouse Station Apartments. These places are student housing for University of Delaware students in Newark. We can only hope those really perpetually drunk students don’t live in these nice-ass apartments named after our beloved Square. The place is described as an “experience [in] the best-in-class finishes, with amenities tailored to suit your lifestyle.” You fancy, huh.

Rittenhouse Park

Maybe my personal favorite instance of Rittenhouse Creep. Yes, there is another Rittenhouse Park. It’s in Newark, and it’s actually much larger than our Rittenhouse Square Park. It’s more than 45 acres and has two miles of natural hiking trails. According to the city of Newark, “the park is host to the very popular Rittenhouse Day and Hobbit Half Day Camps in the summer.” Maybe we can convince Philly to institute Hobbit Full Day Camps for adults at our Rittenhouse? Maybe?

Map

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