Royal Funeral Home, Inc.

Royal Funeral Home stands as Huntsville's oldest Black-owned business, tracing its origins to 1918 when Charles King Binford founded Royal Undertaking Company at 118 Holmes Avenue downtown. The firm operated there for 22 years until Binford's death in 1940, then continued under his widow and daughter until 1946. That year, Lawrence B. and Amanda Rice Hundley purchased the business and its two-story home at 534 Gallatin Street, renaming it Royal Funeral Home.

The Hundleys' daughter Barbara and her husband James A. Jones acquired the firm in 1967, becoming second-generation owners. Urban renewal forced a relocation in 1972 to the current 4315 Oakwood Avenue location, where it remains today. In 2000, Karen Jones Smith and David W. Smith purchased the business from her parents, marking 59 years of continuous family ownership and establishing third-generation leadership with Karen as president and David as vice president.

The funeral home has built its reputation on what staff call the "Royal flair"—pearl-white vehicles rather than traditional black, and formally attired staff in black tuxedos with satin stripes for men, black dresses or suits with distinctive hats for women. The company's motto, coined by James A. Jones, reflects this ethos: "When only memories remain, let them be beautiful."