Ada, Oklahoma's Oldest Family Businesses: Still Going Strong After Generations

<p>Ada, Oklahoma doesn't make the headlines much. But for the roughly 17,000 people who call it home, it has something a lot of bigger cities have lost: businesses that have been part of the community for generations. Stores and services where the owner's grandfather built what the grandchildren now run.</p> <p>In an era when big-box retail and national chains have hollowed out the downtowns of small cities across the country, Ada still has a core of family-owned businesses with deep roots. Here's a look at what that tradition looks like — and what keeps it going.</p> <h2>What Makes Ada's Business Community Different</h2> <p>Ada sits at the intersection of several forces that have historically supported small business survival: it's the county seat of Pontotoc County, home to East Central University, and serves as a regional hub for surrounding towns like Coalgate, Tishomingo, Atoka, and Sulphur. That geography means local businesses have always drawn from a wider population than Ada's city limits suggest.</p> <p>There's also something cultural at work. Pontotoc County has a strong sense of place — people who grew up here tend to stay, and when they do business, they tend to do it locally. The Chamber of Commerce and local networks like the Rotary Club have historically helped anchor that loyalty to community businesses over outside chains.</p> <h2>The Gifford Family and Monument Making Since 1936</h2> <p>Gifford Monument Works is one of Ada's longest-running family businesses. Founded in 1936 by R.C. Gifford, the company has been setting granite monuments in Pontotoc County cemeteries for nearly 90 years — through the Depression, World War II, the postwar boom, the oil busts of the 1980s, and everything since.</p> <p>What's kept the business going isn't complicated: they do one thing, they've done it for generations, and the community trusts them with one of the most meaningful purchases a family ever makes. When someone in Ada loses a parent or a spouse, they often call the same company their grandparents called.</p> <p>Today, Gifford Monument Works serves not just Ada and Pontotoc County but also the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area through a second location in Wylie, Texas — expanding the reach while keeping the same family-owned model that started on an Ada street nearly a century ago.</p> <h2>What Multigenerational Businesses Get Right</h2> <p>There's a pattern to businesses that survive across generations in small Oklahoma cities:</p> <p><strong>They don't try to be everything to everyone.</strong> The businesses that last tend to specialize — they build expertise in a specific thing and become the clear authority on it in the region. A monument company that's been setting granite for 90 years knows things about cemetery regulations, stone durability, and family preferences that no new competitor can replicate quickly.</p> <p><strong>They invest in the community.</strong> Long-running family businesses in Ada show up — at the Chamber, at the school fundraisers, at the local events. That community investment isn't just charity; it's the foundation of the trust that keeps customers coming back across generations.</p> <p><strong>They adapt without losing identity.</strong> The businesses that closed were often the ones that either refused to change anything or changed so much they lost what made them trustworthy in the first place. The ones that survive find the middle path — updating what needs updating (technology, processes, reach) while keeping what people valued about them (craftsmanship, personal service, local accountability).</p> <h2>The Value of Choosing Local</h2> <p>When you buy from a family business that's been in Ada for generations, you're doing more than making a transaction. You're keeping money circulating in the local economy, supporting a business that employs Ada residents, and dealing with someone who will be there — in the same community — if anything ever needs attention after the sale.</p> <p>That accountability matters in certain industries more than others. In the monument business, it matters a lot. A granite headstone is meant to stand for generations. You want to buy from someone whose grandchildren will still be in Ada if their grandchildren ever need something from you.</p> <h2>A Living Tradition</h2> <p>Ada's multigenerational businesses are worth celebrating — not out of nostalgia, but because they represent something genuinely valuable: the kind of trust and accountability that only time can build. Whether it's a monument company, a hardware store, a family law firm, or a local diner, these businesses are part of what makes Ada, Ada.</p> <p>If you're a local business with a multigenerational story to tell, we'd love to hear it. And if you need a monument company with 90 years of Ada roots behind it, give us a call at (580) 332-1271 or stop by our showroom.</p>