 The company manufactured 40% of incandescent light bulbs and 75% of the railway signal glass used in the U.S.

Houghton's interest in and promotion of education, particularly in western New York state, led to his being appointed a trustee of Hobart College in 1917.He was a member of the Jekyll Island Club (aka The Millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia, along with J.P. Morgan and William Rockefeller among others.Houghton was a presidential elector in 1916, voting for the Republican candidates Charles Evans Hughes and Charles W. Fairbanks.