Amory Houghton Sr.

Amory Houghton Sr. was a merchant and glass industry entrepreneur who founded the Bay State Glass Company in 1851 in Somerville, Massachusetts. He moved the operation to Corning, New York in 1868, drawn by the area's natural gas deposits for glass-melting fuel and railroad access to major markets. This decision to relocate to a small upstate town established the geographic and cultural foundation of a company that would survive the Civil War, the Great Depression, two World Wars, and the dot-com crash to become a 174-year-old industrial institution. Houghton's philosophy of steady, long-term investment in manufacturing capacity and materials science innovation set a pattern that his descendants and successors would follow for generations.

Amory Houghton Sr. (1812-1882) founded what would become Corning Incorporated in 1851 as the Bay State Glass Company, a small glassware manufacturer in Somerville, Massachusetts. Born in Massachusetts, Houghton had worked in various mercantile and manufacturing ventures before entering the glass business. He recognized that the future of glass manufacturing lay in technical and industrial applications rather than commodity tableware, and he invested early in specialized glass-melting equipment and skilled craftsmen. In 1868, he made the pivotal decision to move the company to Corning, New York, a town of fewer than 5,000 people at the time, because of its access to natural gas for fuel and the Erie Railroad for transportation. The company was renamed Corning Glass Works, and the Houghton family would maintain a controlling interest for over a century until taking the company public in 1945. Houghton died in 1882, but his sons and grandsons—Amory Houghton Jr., James Houghton, and others—would lead the company through its expansion into scientific glass, Pyrex cookware, television picture tubes, and optical fiber. The Houghton family's commitment to long-term investment in research and manufacturing, even during downturns, created the cultural foundation for Corning's survival through multiple near-death experiences.