The early days of Gympie, in colour.

Gympie takes its name from the Gubbi Gubbi word gimpi-gimpi, or stinging tree. Prior to the name being adopted, it was called Nashville, after James Nash. Nash had reported a deposit of alluvial gold in 1867, which started a rush that eventually saved the colony’s economy.

Gympie in the early years.

The businesses of early Gympie.

Gympie’s first post office, in 1867. “Dunno why they changed the name from Nashvile, personally.”

Early view of Mary Street in Gympie, 1868. Civic improvements would arrive soon…

Niemann & Thomas’ Cabinetmakers in 1871.

Owner and employees outside a Gympie business in 1872.

Gympie’s early homes.

Shingle and bark-roofed house in Gympie, c 1872.

Residence in Gympie with a picket fence, gate and country garden, c 1871.

The floods of 1870.

The town was up and running, and in its third year of official existence, when it was deluged with rain. The photos below show how heavily the place was inundated. Perhaps it was the newness of the town, or the prospect of future wealth through gold, but Gympie rebuilt and grew again.

High water levels of the Mary River at Gympie, 1871.

HEAVY RAINS AND CALAMITOUS FLOOD.
It becomes our painful duty to recall the greatest fall of rain and the most calamitous flood which has yet visited the Gympie Goldfield. Its injurious effects are everywhere so apparent that we hardly know at which point to commence a description.
Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette (Qld.: 1868 – 1919), Wednesday 9 March 1870, page 2.

Lower end of Mary Street, Gympie 1870. Wherever there’s construction underway or a calamity in progress, a group of interested chaps will gather around to opine on it.

Flooded bank of the Mary River at Gympie, 1870.

Mining.

From lone prospectors hoping for a miracle, to companies with proper equipment, the lure of gold spurred a population boom, and some serious infrastructure.

Horse-drawn whim at a goldmine in Gympie, c 1870.

Miners near Gympie, 1873. That looks like hard, dirty work.

North Glanmire mine, Gympie, 1880. Complete with a random child.

Glanmire. The holders of the prospector’s claim (O’Keefe and party) have two shafts working; their northern one is 110 feet deep, and they are at present driving to the east out of it. It appears that at the 70 feet level, the reef they had in the shaft split in two leaders, one of which they followed until it ran out and they are now driving east to cut the other leader.
Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette (Qld.: 1868 – 1919), Wednesday 23 November 1870, page 3.

Miners framed in the underground lamplight in the Gympie mines, 1895.

Sir Anthony and Lady Musgrave visit the Phoenix Mine, 1888. Everything about this photograph screams “awkward,” with the exception of the sleeping doggie at the front. Possibly because no-one told it to mind its language and dress properly. I pity the poor lady shrinking slightly from Lady Musgrave – she seems painfully aware that her small talk skills are not at a vice-regal level.

I don’t think the vice-regal couple were all that glad to be led around a mine, including an underground inspection. The local paper described their exit tellingly.

After the fatigue of the trip around the mine, the visitors generally, gratefully availed themselves of the refreshments provided by the management. An hour after, the Vice-regal party were speeding away to Maryborough as fast as the special train could carry them.
Gympie Times and Mary River Mining Gazette (Qld.: 1868 – 1919), Thursday 7 June 1888, page 3.

The new century.

The Gympie Courthouse, 1911. The scene of endless claim-jumping cases.

The Grand Hotel in 1916. A far cry from the shanties and lodging-houses of fifty years earlier.

All images are from the digital collection of the State Library of Queensland, and are out of copyright. AI colourisation by Copilot. Information on the naming of Gympie from Wikipedia.