Rutledge, PA

Rutledge is a Delaware County borough about nine miles southwest of Philadelphia, a four-block-by-three-block neighborhood with late-1800s homes, one park, and a SEPTA Regional Rail stop at Morton-Rutledge. The 2020 census counted 782 residents. Philadelphia businessmen founded it in 1885, and the borough incorporated in 1887. Even the name has a literary twist: local history ties it to the novel Rutledge, not to Abraham Lincoln's early sweetheart, despite the street sign rumor. Triangle Park is the borough's little civic hinge, with a softball field, basketball court, rain garden, playground, and gathering space.

Swarthmore College and its Scott Arboretum sit just west, while the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District serves local students. On summer evenings, the park's field, court, and playground make the borough feel bigger than its footprint ever suggests to outsiders from neighboring towns. Rutledge's local scoop is a tiny Pennsylvania borough where commuter trains, old houses, a triangular park, and a surprisingly complicated name all fit into a few blocks.