The Harmonville Fire Company can be traced back as early as 1921 to a group of men known as the “Harmanville Boys Club.” This club was originally a social baseball club that met on a regular basis. In the spring of 1922, their interest in baseball began to wane and some of the older members of the club began building tennis courts. Numerous other sports began to be played and thus, the organizations name was changed to the “Harmanville Athletic Association.”  

Around the same time the Harmanville Athletic Association was formed and operating in 1922, Plymouth Township became a “first class township.” This designation created the need for numerous township improvements such as the installation of fire hydrants and an organized fire company.

During one of the Harmanville Athletic Associations meetings, someone made a comment, “lets start a fire company in Harmanville.” The group agreed and began canvassing the community to see how many men would pledge themselves to become members of this proposed fire company. The group secured over 150 pledges of membership! This original group of men held their first official meeting on May 23, 1924 in the Plymouth Consolidated School on Butler Pike which is the present site of our current main station. This historic meeting was called to order by Ludwig Little and three Montgomery County Fire Officials. The Harmanville Fire Company articles of incorporation are dated May 24, 1924, the Harmanville Fire Company was born.

On August 29, 1924, the treasurer authorized the secretary to purchase a stamp and inkpad to be used for official company business. The stamp that was made read “Harmonville Fire Co. No. 1.” This spelling is different from the spelling of the company’s name as found in the original meeting minutes and various other artifacts. The “Harmanville” spelling can still be found in the meeting minutes through 1932. The only explanation that can be found for the change in spelling is a discrepancy in the interpretation of the secretary’s handwriting. Although this seems like a trivial matter, it has caused great discussions, investigations, and mix-ups within the structure of the company. In fact, on historical maps until around 1952, the town is spelled “Harmanville.” Sometime after 1952 the town changed the name to “Harmonville” The Fire Company may in fact be the reasoning for the spelling change!

The first fire the company responded to was on September 1, 1925 are Carson’s Lime in Whitemarsh. Since this first historical fire, Harmonville Fire Co. would go on to proudly serve Plymouth Township and the surrounding communities to the present day.