[edit]
Gold mining leases and claims on the Deep Lead, 1869
Gympie Hospital, 1891
Gubbi Gubbi (Kabi Kabi, Cabbee, Carbi, Gabi Gabi) is an Australian Aboriginal language formerly spoken by the indigenous peoples of the Sunshine Coast Region and Gympie Region, particularly the towns of Caloundra, Noosa Heads, Gympie and extending north towards Maryborough and south to Caboolture.
Gympie's name derives from the Gubbi Gubbi word gimpi-gimpi, which means "stinging tree" and refers to Dendrocnide moroides. The tree has large, round leaves that have similar properties to stinging nettles. The city was previously named Nashville, after James Nash, who discovered gold in the area in 1867. The name was changed to Gympie in 1868, after a local species of tree was found, the Gimpie-Gimpie.
Graziers were the original European settlers. Subsequently, James Nash reported the discovery of "payable" alluvial gold on 16 October 1867. At the time of Nash's discovery, Queensland was suffering from a severe economic depression. Nash saved Queensland from bankruptcy. A memorial fountain in Gympie's Park honours Nash's discovery. The Gympie Gold Rush Festival celebrates the event today. The Gold Rush Festival holds 10 days of cultural events in October. Gold mining still plays a role in the area's fortunes, along with agriculture (dairy predominantly), timber and tourism. The gold rush's rapid development led to streets that are in an irregular fashion.
Nashville Masonic Lodge opened on 24 March 1869 in Duke Street. The first Master was Edward Henry King, the first goldfield commissioner in Gympie. The lodge later relocated and is now known as Pioneer Lodge, while the Duke Street site became the offices of the Shire of Woocoo.Lower Mary Street, c. 1925
In 1882, a handful of macadamia seeds was taken from trees in Gympie to Hawaii, where they became the basis of Hawaii's macadamia industry. In 2019, researchers collected samples from hundreds of macadamia trees in Queensland, and compared their genetic profiles to samples from Hawaiian orchards. They determined that essentially all the Hawaiian trees must have descended from a small population of Australian trees from Gympie, possibly just a single tree.
Gympie Creek Post Office opened on 1 December 1867. It was renamed Gympie in 1868.
In 1868, a slab hut was built behind the Northumberland Hotel and called the Miner's Bethel. This hut was used to hold religious services by the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and Methodist Church until each had established its own church.
A Primitive Methodist Church opened on the diggings at Gympie Creek circa July 1868. It was claimed to be the first church in Gympie. A new Primitive Methodist Church was opened on Commissioner's Hill on Sunday 30 July 1876. Commissioners Hill is described as being from the post office in Duke Street to the corner of Channon and Henry Streets.
A Catholic primary school was established in 1868 by Father. M Horan under lay administration, and was taken over by the Sisters of Mercy in 1880, becoming St Patrick's Catholic Primary School.
In August 1868, Wesleyan Methodists erected a bark hut of pole construction on Surface Hill to use as a basic chapel. It was replaced by a more permanent timber church on the same site facing Reef Street, which opened on Sunday 4 July 1869. The architect was Charles G. Smith and the builder was John Nesbit. In 1890 a brick church was built on the site facing Channon Street and became the Surface Hill Uniting Church (26°11′20″S 152°39′26″E / 26.189°S 152.6572°E / -26.189; 152.6572 (Surface Hill Uniting Church)).
A Presbyterian Church opened on One Mile Road at One Mile on Sunday 8 November 1868.
In 1868, a Cobb & Co. service between Brisbane and Gympie commenced, running twice a week. The changing station stables were located adjacent to the Northumberland Hotel in Channon Street.
In 1869, the Church of England constructed a timber church on the corner of Palantine and School Streets; the first rector was Reverend Henry Jephson Campbell. It was known as the Church of St Peter. This church became the parish hall when a second church was built in Lady Mary Terrace in 1887. This was then superseded by the third and current church, built in brick, on the corner of Lady Mary Terrace and Amy Street (26°11′19″S 152°40′11″E / 26.1887°S 152.6697°E / -26.1887; 152.6697 (2 July 2020)).
One Mile State School was the first school opened in Gympie on 20 September 1869 as One Mile Boys State School with the One Mile Girls and Infants State School opening in October 1874. In January 1943, they were merged into One Mile State School.
Gympie Central Boys State School opened on 18 October 1869 with Gympie Central Girls and Infants State School opening in 1874. In 1899, the Girls and Infants School was separated to become Gympie Central Girls State School and Gympie Central Infants State School. They were amalgamated again in 1912 to become Gympie Central Girls and Infants State School. They were separated again in 1944 re-establishing Gympie Central Infants State School while amalgamating the girls' school with the boys' school to become Gympie Central State School. In 1963, the infants' school amalgamated into Gympie Central State School.
In January 1870, tenders were called for the erection of a Roman Catholic Church.
The railway from Maryborough was completed in 1881. The North Coast railway linked Gympie to Brisbane in 1891.
St Andrew's Anglican Church was first established at Mount Pleasant/One Mile in 1876. It closed around 1968. As at 2019, the church building no longer exists, but the rectory in Graham Street had become a private home. In 2020, this was relocated to Gympie and opened on 29 January 1902.The state declared Gympie a town in 1903.[citation needed]
Little Flower School was opened in 1904 by the Christian Brothers as a secondary school for boys. It was later renamed Sacred Heart Memorial College. It closed in 1982 when it was amalgamated with St Patrick's Catholic Secondary School for Girls to create St Patrick's Catholic College.
Gympie South State School opened on 4 July 1910.
Gympie State High School opened on 29 January 1912. This school is one of the oldest state secondary schools in Queensland.
St Patrick's College in Gympie opened on 30 December 1916.
St Patrick's Catholic Secondary School for Girls opened in 1917. In 1983, it merged with the Sacred Heart Memorial College to become St Patrick's Catholic College.
A powdered milk factory began operations in 1953.[citation needed]
Gympie West State School opened on 28 January 1958.
Gympie East State School opened on 25 January 1965.
Gympie Special School opened in January 1972.
James Nash State High School opened on 24 January 1977.
The Christian Family College opened on 1 February 1983 and closed on 24 January 1988.
Flooding[edit]
The 1873 Gympie flood
Significant floods along the Mary River have caused inundations of the city in 1870, 1873, 1893, 1955, 1968, 1974, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2011, 2013, and 2022. The first recorded flood in Gympie was in 1870. Most of the floods occur between December and April and are typically caused by heavy rainfall in the headwaters to the south.
The highest flood ever recorded in Gympie occurred on 2 February 1893, when the river peaked at 25.45 m (83.5 ft). Gympie was declared a natural disaster area during the 1999 floods. The river peaked at 21.9 metres (72 ft) then. On the 27 February 2022 the river peaked at 22.96 m, superseding the 1999 flood record by over a metre.
Numerous highways and roads in and around the city, which were destroyed or damaged during floods in 2011, were repaired under Operation Queenslander, the name given to post-flood reconstruction efforts in Queensland.
In March 2012, the Gympie Regional Council decided to spend about $30,000 for a cost-benefit analysis on flood mitigation measures. Major flooding also occurred in 2022.
