A History of Cooper Farms – Ardmore Oklahoma
1920s — Automotive & Transit Beginnings: Before becoming a dairy patriarch, Tom Cooper (along with his brother Fleet Cooper) was a prominent early automobile dealer in downtown Ardmore. Operating out of the Tom & Fleet Cooper Auto Garage (located at 401–403 West Main Street), Cooper was also a long-time owner of the Oklahoma Transportation Company bus line.
Mid-1920s — The Medical Catalyst: The birth of Tom Cooper Farms stemmed from a health issue. In the mid-1920s, Tom Cooper was placed on a strict ulcer diet consisting primarily of high-fat milk and cream. Dissatisfied with the consistency and quality of local commercial milk available at the time, he decided to purchase his own registered Golden Guernsey cattle to produce superior-grade milk.
1930s–1940s — Establishment & Farm Expansion: What started as a personal health remedy quickly grew into a full-scale farming operation. Cooper established a state-of-the-art farm north of Ardmore stocked with purebred Guernsey cows.
In 1941, to keep up with surging demand across Carter County, Cooper purchased the old Ardmore Dairy Plant located at 813 West Broadway.
Moving the milk processing, pasteurization, and bottling equipment off the farm into the West Broadway facility allowed Tom Cooper Farms to become a major commercial regional dairy processor.
Now for a funny story from my childhood days. Back in the early 1960s I spent a lot of time across the street from our house at Hunt’s Food Store. I helped do odd jobs, even sacking groceries. The Cooper truck delivered milk, etc., to the store about once a week. One time when I was there the truck was making a delivery to the store and I asked George Hunt (1936-2019) (he mainly ran the meat market) who the driver was as he was always nice to me. George said that’s the owner of Cooper Farms, Arlie Cooper, and being a wee lad I fell for it hook, line and sinker. It was weeks befor be learned the truth. lol
Below is driver Fred Brandt Jr. (1917-2007) of Ardmore making his rounds delivering Cooper Farms milk products in Ardmore. By the way, the next two photographs I got from the Found Photo Project of Southern Oklahoma. If you haven’t visited their Facebook page, you are missing out on a lot of local history.
https://www.facebook.com/SOKFoundPhotos
Below is an old photo of Taliferro’s Grocery located in the NW corner of Highway 70 and Brock Road west of Ardmore.
Ardmore Police Reserve – 1968
From This Weeks Mailbag
Maybe someone has an idea or suggestion to help Kevin Langley:
“Hi Butch, Thank you for watching the KXII story and for offering to include an update in your next newsletter. There is a painful discovery from the filming that did not make it into the broadcast, and I wanted to tell you about it and ask your advice.
While KXII News 12 was filming at Cole/Yates Cemetery near Ardmore, I located the graves of Thomas C. “T. C.” Crews and his infant son, Jessie J. Crews, by matching the stones to historical photographs. Both tombstones are broken in half. Jessie’s broken headstone is almost upside down, and T. C.’s broken stone is propped up. It was heartbreaking to finally recognize the graves and find them in this condition.
The discovery happened toward the end of the roughly hour-long visit with the news crew. That part was edited out of the final broadcast, so I wanted you to hear about it directly. KXII did air the larger story about the cemetery.
I am a disabled Army veteran and an emergency department nurse practitioner. My great-grandparents are buried in this cemetery, and I am a descendant of George Washington Cole. The rough access and searching through the overgrowth were physically exhausting and painful for me. I care deeply about everyone resting there, but I need help finding a safe, practical way forward.
The breaks and displacement are substantial. I am concerned that heavy machinery, cattle, or other physical disturbance may have contributed to the damage. I did not witness it happening, and I cannot establish the cause or when it occurred.”
Here is the KXII video:
https://www.kxii.com/video/2026/10/24/family-hopes-preserve-historic-cemetery-hidden-off-ardmore-road/?outputType=amp
The accompanying story:
https://www.kxii.com/2026/10/24/family-hopes-preserve-historic-cemetery-hidden-off-ardmore-road/
“What are the next steps? Whom should we contact for a professional assessment of the broken stones, and what documentation would be most useful? If you know a qualified cemetery preservationist, a local organization that could help, or Crews descendants who should be informed, I would be grateful for a referral. I can provide the historical photographs and my earlier cemetery photographs for comparison.
I honestly do not know what to do next. Finding a father and his infant son’s markers broken like this has been difficult, especially after learning their story. I want to help preserve their graves properly and protect the other families resting there.
Thank you for your time and any guidance you can offer.”
Sincerely,
Kevin Langley
Cole family descendant and disabled Army veteran
580-465-9788
kevin6967@live.com
The Tech Corner
I’m really glad I signed up for SurfShark VPN last April for all my devices (network), (iOS, Android, PC, Mac, etc.). Reduced the risk of losing money to scams with solutions that detect suspicious texts, calls, emails, and phishing websites on my Router, 3 computers and 2 cell phones. SurfShark keeps my connections private with a VPN that masks my true Chickasaw Internet IP, and an ad blocker that removes distractions. It protect my devices with an antivirus that detects threats, removes malicious software, and even keeps my webcam secure. All that protection for $2.50 a month. That’s my total cost each month.
I have notice 2 or 3 websites I go to would not load when my VPN was active. I had to Pause it for 5 or 10 or 30 minutes then I could get in. The following is the ones so far I’ve had to pause….
https://yourmoney.ok.gov (State Treasurers Office)
https://usps.com (United States Postal Service)
…..and I’m sure I’ll find others. To access those mentioned above, it took 3 seconds for me to pause my VPN (SurfShark), then I was in, and no further problems using the sites. I’ve figured out the 2 sites above do not allow “fake” IPs which is exactly what SurfShark does to keep the outside world from finding me.
Hard to beat the peace of mind and security SurfShark provides. Check it all out at the link below.
https://surfshark.club/friend/4vhaWbNT
Ham Radio
Back to my Meshtastic I mentioned last week I been trying to get installed on my PC and my phone. A friend who has it has got me almost there. Only thing is the world map section showing all the current Meshtastic nodes does not show any nodes. So I’m still working on the fine tuning. Hopefully I’ll have it working soon before I go crazy.
https://meshtastic.org/
True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
See everyone next week!
Butch and Jill Bridges
Ardmore Oklahoma
580-490-6823
https://oklahomahistory.net
