he Roycroft Campus is the best preserved and most complete complex of buildings remaining of the "guilds" that evolved in the United States at the turn of the 19th to 20th century. Author, lecturer, and entrepreneur Elbert Hubbard began to develop the Roycroft Campus in 1897. Inspired by leaders of the Arts and Crafts movement in England, William Morris and John Ruskin, Hubbard started the Roycroft Press as a way to produce monthly publications and illuminated books. In March 1899, one of his essays "A Message to Garcia" became an overnight sensation and propelled him to worldwide fame. The success enabled him to rapidly grow his Roycroft community, adding thirteen additional buildings on the campus over the next ten years. It would become the vanguard of the uniquely American "Arts and Crafts" style, a decorative arts that emphasizes clean lines and simplicity of design. The artisans would branch out working in a variety of medium including wood, stained glass, and copper to name a few. By 1914, the new Print Shop on the campus would boast an equipment inventory of 23 presses and more imported handmade paper than all American printing institutions combined. In its prime the Campus employed over 500 people including women and minorities, and became a Mecca for master craftsmen and a gathering place for notable artists, authors, philosophers, and power brokers.
The Campus, designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1986, contains 14 structures including the Inn, the Chapel, the Print Shop, the Furniture Shop, and the Copper Shop. The Campus began to fall into disrepair over time, and by 1989 was placed on the 11 Most Endangered Places list of historic properties. The threat to the historic integrity of the campus was real and imminent.
The Roycroft Campus Corporation (RCC) (formerly known as the Roycroft Revitalization Corporation), was established to preserve and restore the Campus. It helped lead the successful restoration and reopening of The Roycroft Inn in 1995. Next, the RCC is in the process of restoring the Copper Shop, a significant and severely threatened contributing structure that is a much-beloved icon of the Roycroft Campus. The Copper Shop serves multiple purposes as a visitor center, gift shop, gallery, and contains space for workshops and offices. Its ultimate goal is to preserve the unique architectural setting of the Campus, but moreover, to bring back to life the Roycroft community and ideals by re-introducing working artisans on the campus; developing comprehensive, compelling, and multi-faceted interpretative and educational programming; and encouraging the development of a center for creativity and innovation in the decorative arts, fine arts and literature.
The Copper Shop
Constructed in 1902 of local stone, half-timbered and stucco in the style of a small English cottage, the second blacksmith shop initially had a brick interior and a dirt floor. Under the direction of Karl Kipp and Walter Jennings, the blacksmiths created hardware for doors, furniture, lighting fixtures, andirons, and tools for all the buildings on the Campus. Two additions were added to this building to facilitate the emerging, hammered copper product line and to bottle East Aurora maple syrup and honey. Beginning in 1912, the front room served as Elbert Hubbard's Roycroft Bank for several years.
The Power House
The Power House built in 1909-1910 for $20,000, furnished electricity and heat for the printing industry and the Campus as a whole through an underground piping system. The equipment consisted of two high-speed engines, direct-connected to generators capable of developing a total of about three hundred horsepower. Steam was generated in a battery of three boilers, all supplied with Jones automatic smoke-consuming stokers. The second floor housed a variety of auxiliary Roycroft groups such as the Roycroft Concert Band, Orchestra, baseball team, and the local drama club.
It suffered a devastating fire in February 1997 and in the winter of 2004 lost two exterior walls due to harsh weather conditions. A complete reconstruction of the building began in the summer of 2010 with a completion date of mid 2011. The structure will now be used as a multi-purpose education facility.
