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Gympie is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. Gympie is the administrative centre for the Gympie Region area. As of June 2018 Gympie had a population of 51,578. Gympie is famous for its gold field. It contains a number of historic buildings registered on the Queensland Heritage Register. [edit] History
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.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 probably saved Queensland from bankruptcy. A memorial fountain in Gympie's Park honours Nash's discovery.[1] 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.[2] In 1882 a handful of macadamia seeds were 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. This lack of genetic diversity in the commercial crop puts it at risk of succumbing to pathogens (as has happened in the past to banana cultivars). Growers may seek to diversify the cultivated population, by hybridizing with wild specimens. 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 their own church.[3] 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 Chandon and Henry Streets. 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. A Presbyterian Church opened on One Mile Road at One Mile on Sunday 8 November 1868. 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.[3] 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.[2] St Andrew's Anglican Church was first established at Mount Pleasant / One Mile in 1876. It closed circa 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 the Gympie Airfield. Gympie Apollonian Vale Baptist Church opened on Sunday 5 November 1899. Prior to this, the Baptist congregation had met in the Oddfellows Hall and other venues. A fire brigade was in operation in 1900. The state declared Gympie a town in 1903. A powdered milk factory began operations in 1953. In the , the locality of Gympie had a population of 10,803 people. [edit] FloodingSignificant 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.[4] The highest flood ever recorded in Gympie occurred on 2 February 1893 when the river peaked at 25.45 m. Gympie was declared a natural disaster area during the 1999 floods. The river peaked at 21.9 m then. On the 27 February 2022 the river peaked at 22.8 metres, superseding the 1999 flood record by almost 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. [edit] Research Tips
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