With the passing of the first decade of this century, we also see the demise of one of Grand Ledge’s oldest firms. Sadly, Doty Floral closed at the end of 2009. The Doty’s have been in the area from the beginning and part of the Grand Ledge business community for over a hundred years.
It all started in the 1830s, when Lazarus Doty came to Eagle Township from New York and entered a large tract of land for each of his three sons: Oliver in section 26 on State Road, Philo in section 14 along the Looking Glass River, and Charles in section 34 on State Road.
The Doty Brothers were successful and well respected farmers. A journalist in the 1880’s noted "The three are residents of the township, and still occupy the land entered for them by their father. The family has been one of the most substantial and enterprising in the township.” Philo Doty operated the second saw mill in the township on his farm, using the waters of the Looking Glass to power it.
At the turn of the last century, it was Philo’s decedents that came to Grand Ledge to find their way in the business community. Two of Philo’s sons, Ellis and Sanford, bought a thirty-year-old grain elevator in Grand Ledge in 1901. The new firm of Doty & Doty operated their elevator next to the railroad tracks on N. Clinton Street and offered Grain, Beans, Wood, Coal and more. In 1921 Doty & Doty merged with the Ireland Elevator and the Grand Ledge Produce Company was born. Sanford’s son Roy was the general manager for the next 20 years.
Ellis’s son Mark opened Doty & Huggert Greenhouse on Spring Street in 1913. The business has been known over the years as Doty’s Greenhouse, Doty’s Greenhouse and Flower Shop, and finally Doty Floral. They used to advertise as “Flowers that Satisfy – It’s always springtime at our house” Mark’s son Dean ran the business for many years and Dean’s daughter Joanne continued on after him. After Joanne passing, another Doty descendant carried on with the business. It was one of Grand Ledge’s oldest firms and maybe the only one to be in the same family for so many years.
The Doty name has not left our business community however. Doty Agency continues to carry on the family name. Roy Doty’s son Stuart Doty began selling insurance in the 1940s. He worked out of the Loan & Deposit Building downtown early on but later had the Doty Building at 400 S. Bridge before moving to the new Doty Insurance Building on Saginaw Hwy.
