[6] It became an industrial empire which included carbon black plants and tens of thousands of acres of land rich in gas, oil, and other minerals; 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of pipeline; seven corporations with worldwide operations; three facilities for converting natural gas into gasoline; and a number of research laboratories.

By 1890, Cabot Corporation, had become America's fourth-largest producer of carbon black, which was used in products, such as inks, shoe polishes, and paints.

But with the subsequent advent and popularity of cars, carbon black became in much greater demand as six pounds of it was required in the production of a single tire, and Cabot's incomes soared.

[9][10] While in his nineties, Cabot sponsored the restoration of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology's (MCZ) complete Kronosaurus skeleton.

Godfrey Cabot thus asked how much a restoration would cost and "Romer, pulling a figure out of the musty air, replied, 'Oh, about $10,000.'"

Before Cabot's involvement, the society had made its mark by helping instigate obscenity charges against Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

Under Cabot's direction, the organization renamed Watch and Ward Society used economic, social, and legal pressures and even harassment techniques to block the sale and distribution of books which they disapproved of for moral reasons.