Gympie

Gympie is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia.

Gympieis a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about 170.7 kilometres (110 mi) 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 of51,578. Gympie is famous for its gold field. It contains a number of historic buildings registered on the Queensland Heritage Register.

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. 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.

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.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 (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 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 (26.1887°S 152.6697°E? / -26.1887; 152.6697? (2 July 2020)).In January 1870 tenders were called for the erection of a Roman Catholic Church.The railway from Maryborough 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 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.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 2016 census, the locality of Gympie had a population of 10,803 people.a

Significant floods along the Mary River have caused inundations of the city in 1870, 1873, 1893, 1955, 1968, 1974, 1989, 1992, 1999, 2011 and 2013. 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. Gympie was declared a natural disaster area during the 1999 floods. The river peaked at 21.9 m then.

Numerous highways and roads in and around the city which were destroyed or damaged during floods in 2011 was 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.

Gympie has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa).

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.

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 Dagun. The train departs and returns to the Old Gympie Railway Station in Tozer Street, an original railway station from the 1900s gold rush.

Approximately 25 km south of Gympie, the town of Amamoor hosts the annual National Country Music Muster. Held over six days and nights in August in the Amamoor Forest Reserve, the Muster is the largest outdoor country music festival in Australia.

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. The Gympie Town Hall Reserve Complex, built in 1890, was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2011.Mothar Mountain Speedway is Gympie's local raceway which hosts the motorsport Speedway A.K.A dirt track racing. Mothar Mountain Speedway is promoted by the Gympie Saloon Car Club Ltd.

The annual Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival is held in Gympie in March.

24 km south-east of Gympie, Woondum National Park provides access to subtropical rainforest, creeks and granite outcrops. 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.About 30 minutes' drive east of Gympie is Tin Can Bay, where one can hand-feed Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphins. The feeding is regulated for the protection of the dolphins.

Gympie and the surrounding area is part of the Great Sandy Biosphere Reserve, listed by UNESCO as a world conservation site.

Gympie Cemetery crawls are run by the Gympie Family History Society. Participants learn about the town's pioneering families.