About

Established in 2013 as a Woman-owned business.

Rustic Relics LLC Founder and President, Linda Barton Cronoble, originally grew up, married, and raised a family in Florida, but decided to follow her dream of life in Colorado, moving in December of 2001. In 2016, Linda went back to school and ultimately graduated from MSU with a B.S. degree in Land Use with a Geology concentration.

Linda, Jim Cronoble, Ph.D., Elizabeth Simmons, Ph.D., Martin Lockley, Ph.D., and Lawrence Jankowski, Ph.D., opened Rustic Relics in Lakewood, August 2013, following the production of a documentary by Elizabeth Simmons for Dinosaur Ridge entitled “Arthur Lakes: Discovering Dinosaurs.”

The documentary chronicled the discovery of the first dinosaur bones in Colorado. Linda says, “We had so many props from the production of “Arthur Lakes: Discovering Dinosaurs” that we had to rent space initially in an antiques mall in East Denver to get it out of our houses! The props sold quickly because we sold them cheaply, but it was the rocks and minerals from our collections that were the big hit. Within six months of renting the antique mall space, we were looking for a retail space of our own.” In 2013, Dr. Simmons found our first location in Lakewood, Colorado, a charming 1930s house. The second owners had donned the house with log faces for a more rustic, old log cabin appearance. The rustic-looking house was located in the heart of what was once a fancy fruit orchard that served the new wealth of Denver in the late 1800’s.

“By 2022, we were busting at the seams and needed to expand, and the perfect opportunity to relocate to our current address, 10025 W Kentucky Drive in Lakewood, presented itself. Our new location has a lovely and refreshing modern rustic decor and feel, and we have enough parking to accommodate our monthly outdoor Prospector’s Flea Market and tour buses.”

Although Rustic Relics advertises itself as a rock, crystal, antique, and gift shop, it is primarily a rock shop that caters to serious collectors, interior and landscape designers, and metaphysical healers, to the casual collector and rockhound.