A Glimpse of Gympie History and Heritage

by Graham Kingston

Overview

Gympie is the quiet achiever of South East Queensland. From its chaotic beginning amid a gold rush, to overcoming the isolation caused by limited access to a port (Maryborough) and the state capital (Brisbane), and diversifying its industry base into timber, dairying and fruit growing, Gympie has become a busy hub within the Wide Bay-Burnett region for industry, tourism and local government administration.
Gympie has achieved this progress without forgetting its past, by maintaining and refurbishing its building heritage, remembering the contribution of its citizens to the Australian war efforts through an impressive memorial lane of murals, honouring the contribution of its famous citizens, and maintaining museums to educate its citizens and tourists alike about the positive impacts of the gold, timber, dairying and fruit growing industries. Furthermore, the Gympie council has financed the reinvigoration of the Mary River Branch Railway and its “Rattler” tourism initiative.
Gympie is a small city (population 21,000) 176km north of Brisbane in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of South East Queensland. It was established following the discovery of gold in 1867, a significant event in the life of a young and financially vulnerable State of Queensland. Although the gold rush is long gone, Gympie continues to flourish and today is a local government administrative centre for the Mary River Valley and Cooloola Coast (population 52,000).
Our book provides a glimpse of Gympie’s interesting history and heritage.
In our overview of Gympie, we present a current profile based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics, its population growth since the gold rush days, the impact of floods on the city over its life, the role of music from its earliest days to present, and the prominence of its war memorials, especially the Memorial Lane of Murals.
The significance of gold in Gympie’s past cannot be avoided. We provide a brief overview of its impact and profile James Nash, who made the famous discovery. Gympie has survived because of its ability to transition from its dependence on gold to successfully develop other financially successful industries. We profile three of these industries, namely: the timber, dairying, and fruit growing that were instrumental in Gympie’s transition.
The standout feature of the city is its respect for its history and heritage, especially for the facades of its Queensland heritage-listed buildings. These buildings are a focus of our book. In fact, we present 31 colour photographs of present-day Gympie, 20 of which are heritage-listed structures. Of these, we select and describe 11 heritage-listed buildings in detail.
We profile four of Gympie’s famous citizens: Andrew Fisher, who rose to become a Prime Minister of Australia; James Nash who discovered gold in 1867; the Lynch sisters who were prominent in the timber industry; and Hugo du Rietz, a prominent citizen who was responsible for four of the buildings displayed in our book.
The railways underpinned the growth of Gympie from the 1880s for more than 100 years. First, it was the line from Gympie to the port of Maryborough, followed by the line from Gympie to the state capital, and finally, the Mary Valley branch line was constructed. We take a closer look at the role of the railways in Gympie’s development.
If past endeavour is a predictor of what is to come, then Gympie’s future is assured.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940164776718
Publisher:	Graham Kingston
Publication date:	01/02/2021
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Introduction
OS Wayfarer is not a business or an enterprise but a passion!
At its core, OS Wayfarer is about self-publishing eBooks, especially our travel eBooks. So far, we have self-published eight travel eBooks.
OS Wayfarer is sustained through the partnership of Graham and Katherine Kingston. It is our passion for travel, and my (Graham’s) passion (some might say obsession) for personal computing, photography, and project management, that has resulted in OS Wayfarer. Fortunately, Katherine knows her history, provides great editing, calms Graham’s exuberance, anchors the outfit in some reality, and ensures a measure of class.
We endeavour, for less than the price of a cup of coffee, to share our travel experiences with you. We hope you enjoy our eBooks.
Our approach
Four key principles underpin our approach:
•We love to take a “Do it Yourself” approach as much as is feasible: in respect of our travel, eBooks.
•A cost-effective approach is always front of mind.
•A commitment to maintaining standards is important to us.
•A desire to share our knowledge and expertise thereby helping others to enhance their travel experiences.
We strive to be professional; and to adopt practical, affordable, achievable, and effective approaches to the development and publishing of our eBooks.
Our backgrounds
Travel
We are retired baby boomers and we have been at this caper, in one form or another since about 2009.
We travelled as a part of our professional working lives but to less developed countries. We lived and worked in Bandung, Indonesia (four years), Kitwe, Zambia (four years) and Kuching, Sarawak (two years). These wonderful opportunities provided a rich experience for our family and instilled a desire to travel (perhaps it was always there).
We have travelled quite a bit since retiring and intend to continue. To date we have visited various parts of the world: for example, Athens, Prague, Isle of Skye, along the Queensland Coast, Istanbul, Bucharest, Budapest, and Barcelona (it just so happens that all these visits resulted in an eBook!).
Earlier we travelled to Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, as well as Italy on two Insight Tours.
Professional
I (Graham) started out as a Radio Technician before becoming a technical teacher, and technical teacher trainer. This foundation led to a very enjoyable career as an adviser, program/project tenderer and manager, and independent consultant in international development assistance.
Katherine commenced her career as a primary school teacher before becoming an ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) teacher, Self-Access Centre manager, and IELTS (International English Language Testing Service) Centre manager.