THE EMERALD MUSEUM & COLLECTION
Emerald Museum was established as a formal collecting entity in 1969 based at the Emerald Hall, acquiring material by donation from local community members. In 1988 the former Shire of Sherbrooke with the help of State Government purchased the only remaining section of the former C. A. Nobelius & Sons Nursery (VHR place details ID/H2285). By the late 1980s the collection had been relocated to a shed on the former nursery. This collection included written records of the nursery’s operations that had been maintained throughout its ownership by the Nobelius family and L. Linton. However in the damp shed, the collection’s condition deteriorated. The nursery records received extensive conservation treatment to restore their condition and are now held as a complete collection at Emerald Museum. After the Emerald community lobbied extensively for a place to house their local heritage, the Shire agreed to construct a purpose-built facility within the former nursery where it has resided since 1993. The land was officially opened as the public ‘Nobelius Heritage Park’ in the same year.
The Museum is an archival repository and display centre for a wide range of items that relate to the history of the former Gembrook/C. A. Nobelius & Sons Nursery as well as Emerald and surrounding districts. Nobelius Heritage Park is registered on the Victorian Heritage Database as a site of State significance, being an intact 12 acre remnant of the former Nobelius Nursery that operated between 1886 and 1955 (VHR place details ID/H2285).
Emerald Museum and Nobelius Heritage Park are Council-owned and maintained, and are administered by a volunteer Committee of Management under Deed of Delegation from Cardinia Shire Council. This Committee is known as the Nobelius Heritage Park & Emerald Museum Committee of Management (NHPEM) and has primary authority over collection management, administering a Council-allocated budget and overseeing a volunteer workforce to progress the collection. In conjunction with the Committee, a Museum Officer is employed by Cardinia Shire Council in a part-time role to lend professional expertise and develop current management practices at Emerald Museum.
The entire repository is housed at the Museum within Nobelius Heritage Park and the majority of its most significant records relate to the former Nobelius Nursery’s operations. The earliest collection items are a small assemblage of Aboriginal stone tools from the local area that have not been absolutely dated. The collection was generated by the development of Emerald and surrounding districts and continues to acquire material as the region evolves.
