Gympie (/ˈɡɪmpi/GHIM-pee)[3] is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia.[4][5] Located in the Greater Sunshine Coast,[6] Gympie is about 170.7 km (110 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. The locality of Gympie is the central business district for the city of Gympie and also the administrative centre for the Gympie Region local government area. In the 2021 census, Gympie had an urban population of 22,424 people.[1]
Gympie is famous for its gold field.[7] It contains a number of historic buildings registered on the Queensland Heritage Register.
Gympie's name derives from the Gubbi Gubbi word gimpi-gimpi, which means "stinging tree"[9] 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.[10] The name was changed to Gympie in 1868.[11]
Graziers were the original European settlers. Subsequently, James Nash reported the discovery of "payable" alluvial gold on 16 October 1867.[12] 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.[12] The Gympie Gold Rush Festival celebrates the event today. The Gold Rush Festival holds 10 days of cultural events in October.[13]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.[14]
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.[15][16]
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.[17] 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.[18]
Gympie Creek Post Office opened on 1 December 1867. It was renamed Gympie in 1868.[19]
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.[20]
A Primitive Methodist Church opened on the diggings at Gympie Creek circa July 1868. It was claimed to be the first church in Gympie.[21] A new Primitive Methodist Church was opened on Commissioner's Hill on Sunday 30 July 1876.[22] Commissioners Hill is described as being from the post office in Duke Street to the corner of Channon and Henry Streets.[23]
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.[24]
A Presbyterian Church opened on One Mile Road at One Mile on Sunday 8 November 1868.[27][28]
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.[29]
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″S152°40′11″E / 26.1887°S 152.6697°E / -26.1887; 152.6697 (2 July 2020)).[20]
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.[24]
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.[24][30]
In January 1870, tenders were called for the erection of a Roman Catholic Church.[31]
The railway from Maryborough was completed in 1881.[14] The North Coast railway linked Gympie to Brisbane in 1891.[14]
St Andrew's Anglican Church was first established at Mount Pleasant/One Mile in 1876.[32] It closed around 1968.[33] 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.[30]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.[24]
Gympie South State School opened on 4 July 1910.[30]
Gympie State High School opened on 29 January 1912.[34] This school is one of the oldest state secondary schools in Queensland.[35]
St Patrick's College in Gympie opened on 30 December 1916.[30]
St Patrick's Catholic Secondary School for Girls opened on 1917. In 1983, it merged with the Sacred Heart Memorial College to become St Patrick's Catholic College.[24]
A powdered milk factory began operations in 1953.[citation needed]
Gympie West State School opened on 28 January 1958.[30]
Gympie East State School opened on 25 January 1965.[30]
The Christian Family College opened on 1 February 1983 and closed on 24 January 1988.[24]
Flooding
Significant floods along the Mary River have caused inundations of the city in 1870, 1873, 1893, 1955, 1968, 1974, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2011,[37]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.[38]
The highest flood ever recorded in Gympie occurred on 2 February 1893, when the river peaked at 25.45 m (83.5 ft).[38] Gympie was declared a natural disaster area during the 1999 floods.[39] 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,[40] the name given to post-flood reconstruction efforts in Queensland.
In the 2016 census, Gympie had an urban population of 20,966 people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.9% of the population; 82.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most-common countries of birth were England 2.6%, New Zealand 1.9%, and the Philippines 0.6%. About 89.6% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were no religion 30.1%, Catholic 16.8%, and Anglican 15.6%.[43]
In the 2021 census, Gympie had an urban population of 22,424 people.[1]
Gympie experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen:Cfa) with hot, rainy summers and mild, dry winters with cool nights. Annual rainfall averages around 1,117.4 mm (43.99 in), with a summer maximum. Extreme temperatures have ranged from −4.3 °C (24.3 °F) on 20 July 2007 to 42.4 °C (108.3 °F) on 4 January 2014.[65]
Climate data for Gympie (26º10'48"S, 152º38'24"E, 65 m AMSL) (1908-2024 normals, extremes 1965-2024, rainfall to 1870)
The Gympie Gold Mining and Historical Museum houses memorabilia from the early gold mining era, as well as displays showcasing military, rural, transport, communications, and steam development in Australia. The WoodWorks Museum provides an insight into the timber industry and social history of yesteryear through displays and demonstrations. Features include a large selection of pioneering hand tools, a 1925 Republic truck, bullock wagons, and a blacksmith shop.[citation needed]
The Valley Rattler steam train is a tourist train that began operations in 1996. It follows the Mary River through the forests and plantations of the Mary Valley to Amamoor.[67] The train departs and returns to the Old Gympie Railway Station in Tozer Street, an original railway station from the 1900s gold rush.[citation needed]
Approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Gympie, the town of Amamoor hosts the annual Gympie Music Muster. It is held over six days and nights in August in the Amamoor Forest Reserve.[68] The muster is the largest outdoor country music festival in Australia.[citation needed]
Gympie's Mary St offers a wide array of bars, cafes, and shops with 19th-century Victorian architecture. The historic Railway Hotel was built in 1915 and is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register.[69] The Gympie Town Hall Reserve Complex, built in 1890, was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2011.[70]
Mothar Mountain Speedway is Gympie's local speedway track. With a history spanning over 50 years, its most well-known feature is the unique right-hand kink. The venue hosts a variety of classes, including SSA Modified Sedans, SSA Super Sedans, SSA Junior Sedans, SSA Production Sedans, SSA Street Stocks, Modlites, and Late Models.[71] The speedway has hosted the Australian title for SSA Production Sedans in 2014, and was scheduled to host the Australian titles for Modlites and SSA Super Sedans in April 2023.[72]
About 24 km (15 mi) south-east of Gympie, Woondum National Park provides access to subtropical rainforest, creeks, and granite outcrops.[73] Facilities include picnic tables, barbecues, firewood, fresh water, amenities, and bush-walking tracks. Access is by dirt road, and a high-clearance vehicle is recommended.[74]
The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) has a campus in Gympie located on Cartwright Road. This campus offers undergraduate study in primary education, nursing, business, and commerce.[88]
Gympie Airport is a small local airport located to the south of the city. It has general aviation, recreational aviation, and gliding communities. The nearest domestic airport is Sunshine Coast Airport, and the closest international airport is Brisbane Airport.[citation needed]
Governance
Eight councilors are elected to the Gympie Region local government area.[98]
The Queensland government had plans to build a dam on the Mary River at Traveston Crossing, about 16 km (9.9 mi) south of Gympie, arguing that the geology is sound and that the South East Queensland region needed greater water security due to climate change and population growth.[101] The project was scrapped in 2010.
^Unidentified (1955). "Gympie Fire Station in 1955". John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
^ abStoodley, June. Nash, James (1834–1913)Archived 9 May 2012 at Wikiwix. Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography. Australian National University.
^"PUBLIC WORKS". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXIII, no. 3, 365. Queensland, Australia. 11 July 1868. p. 2. Archived from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Staying afloat". Sunshine Coast Daily. Sunshine Coast Newspaper Company. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
^"Mary Valley". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
^"Home". Corbet's Group Mothar Mountain Speedway. Gympie Saloon Car Club. 17 October 2022. Archived from the original on 17 October 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
^"Woondum National Park". Department of Environment and Resource Management. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
^Alexia Purcell (24 March 2010). "Trip to Mothar Mountain rock pools". Sunshine Coast Daily. Sunshine Coast Newspaper Company. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
^"Cemetery Crawls". Gympie Family History Society Inc. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
^Dicker, George. "Allan Joseph Boase (1894–1964)". Boase, Allan Joseph (1894–1964). Australian National University. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^Edmond, Scott (2002). "Harry Sunderland (1889–1964)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian Dictionary of Biography. Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)