Crystal Kingdom is one of Coonabarabran’s favourite tourists stops, and it carries a strong legacy. Three families, and 50 years later, it’s a countless collection of locally-sourced crystals and fossils.

The original founders of Crystal kingdom were Janet and Brian Head who, after relocating to the area from South Australia, discovered enough crystals that they were inspired to open a museum to showcase their extensive collection.

In 1974, Crystal Kingdom opened its doors, and fast forward 50 years, it now houses hundreds of fossils and crystals, with some dating back as far as 300 million years.

Today, the collection is in the hands of Ken and Debbie Newton and their daughter, Angela, who purchased it in May of last year from Nola and Wolfgang Bredereck, with most of the collection primarily from the Head or Bredereck’s respective collections.

Debbie Newton said she had been visiting the museum since 1985, back when it was owned by the Head family, and she couldn’t bear the idea of it closing when Nola Bredereck decided to sell.

“I just bought it because I didn’t want it to close down, and I just loved the museum,” she said.

Although the Newton family had little experience in the field, their passion for Crystal Kingdom has kept it alive, with daughter Angela Newton even returning to studies to try to fill Nola Bredereck’s shoes.

“Mum’s ‘Nola Two’, I’ll be ‘Nola Three’,” Angela joked.

Angela said she was excited to see Crystal Kingdom thrive under her family’s care and was proud of their contributions, no matter how small. One of these contributions includes a five-foot-long piece of petrified wood found on the Newtons’ farm, ‘Fairview.’

“Dad spent quite a lot of time playing in the excavator, digging up the dirt, when he found it,” Angela recalled.

The wood, like most of the other museum pieces, was found while farming, however, there are stories of Mr Bredereck bartering with local farmers for interesting pieces.

Over the years, the museum has been honoured with several tourism and Chamber of Commerce awards. Two of its biggest milestones were the expansion of the museum, opened by former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, John Anderson, and the return of the ‘Miniland’ mural last December.

The mural had been listed for sale on social media, and Angela felt it needed to come home, beginning a long journey to return this beloved piece of Coona.

“It was homeless in Canberra, it didn’t belong there,” Angela explained.

The mural complements the current decorations in the museum’s expansion as it curves around the wall. “It’s lovely for people who come here, but can’t necessarily experience the Warrumbungles, so they view our display and get a sense of what the mountains are like,” Angela said.

She confirmed that the piece is now securely attached to the wall and is “not going anywhere.”

Today, the museum is a collection of fossils, crystals and various relics of the town’s history, which was dutifully honoured during its 50th celebrations over the weekend.

The celebrations included a vintage-car display, a coffee van, live broadcasts by the local radio station from inside the museum and, of course – cake.

Mrs Bredereck was informed about the celebration and expressed her excitement, sending her best wishes. Angela added that the former owner is doing well in Brisbane and continues her legacy by encouraging all staff and residents to wear hematite, which was one of her best sellers.

“I am really looking forward to the next 50 years, because with Mum and Dad’s help, this will be my job for a while and my children are interested in it, so hopefully we can keep it going,” Angela said.

“The hope for the next 50 years is to keep expanding the shop, and keeping it modern with hopes for an updated website featuring an online store.”

PHOTO: Geraldine Townsend, Diane Spittles, Marleen Boshier, Evelyn Littefield and Loretta Evans help to celebrate Crystal Kingdom's 50th birthday.