Come to Cooloola and visit the "Streets of Gold" in the Gympie CBD.

Streets of Gold

Golden History of Gympie

Gympie is a city of 16,000 people, located on the Mary River, about 170 kilometres north of Brisbane. It is a quiet and pleasant community, endowed with a range of amenities and services much as would be found in many other Queensland cities.

Gympie, however, has a claim which sets it apart from every other town and city. It saved the infant colony of Queensland in 1867. Just eight years after Queensland had separated from New South Wales in 1859 it was confronted by a period of financial crisis. The failure of banks in Queensland and London, and the arrival of many immigrants to the colony in earlier years, combined to create a situation of unprecedented unemployment, chaos and civil disturbances.

What the struggling colony needed but could hardly expect was a miracle. In one of those great conjunctions of history, however, the need was about to be met in a most spectacular way. James Nash, a young migrant from Wiltshire, in England, discovered alluvial gold near the present site of the Gympie Town Hall in September 1867. He reported his find to the authorities on October 17 and soon the rush was on. First Maryborough, then Brisbane, Ipswich and other surrounding settlements were drained of their male population as thousands set off in pursuit of their fortune. Within 6 months there were over 15,000 men mining the Gympie alluvials, many obtaining an ounce to the dish and unearthing nuggets. The largest nugget ever found in Queensland, the 30 kilogram (975 oz) Curtis Nugget, named after its finder George Curtis who unearthed it in February 1868.

The Gympie Goldfield produced 4,084,720 ounces of gold, recorded by the Gold Escorts, in the 60 years between 1876 and 1926.

Gold in Quartz
The historic goldfields of Gympie date back to the 1800's and were famous for the so called “Jewellers Shops” zones where gold reefs form extraordinarily rich veins of visible native gold in quartz rock. In this early time and up to 1924 the area gained particular renown for producing many collectors' and jewellery specimens.

Today, pure quartz blocks with naturally occurring veins of gold are extracted from the mine and prepared using proprietary technology, cut into a thin slab to be inlaid by specialist craftsmen to highlight the beauty of this truly rare, unrefined gold in quartz gemstone. No two stones are alike.

The colour of the quartz can vary depending on accompanying minerals, but the bright white quartz is considered among the most highly prized and it is common in Gympie and region.

Gold in Quartz can only be found in a few places in the world! It's for sale in Gympie!
There are rough and polished pieces of gold in quartz available for sale at the tourist information centres at the Matilda Truck Stop 10k south of Gympie on the Bruce Hwy and at the Lake Alford (Duck Ponds) located on the Bruce Hwy across from the Great Eastern Motor Inn. Or just look for the duck ponds and park. Both information centres are Tourism Queensland accredited and bear the yellow and blue information symbol Pieces of gold in quartz range in price from $25 to $125.

For those interested in fine jewellery, Gympie Showcase Jewellers (Map Ref 31) are one of the few places in the world that carry a line of men's and women's handcrafted “gold in quartz” jewellery that has been obtained from mining in Gympie.

Wearing “gold in quartz” jewellery is a creative way to honour the distinctive marriage of mineral and metal. A symbol of the earth's history, jewellery with gold bearing quartz always draws attention, and never goes out of style.

Architecture that gold mining money built

Many of the beautiful buildings in Gympie were built during the gold rush period. These are numbered on the map.

Victoria House (7 on map) at 210 Mary Street
Now the home of the Curtain Talk retail outlet, the building was built in 1868. Features of the building are the roof skylights and ornate ceiling panels.

Gympie is rich in historic architecture.

Royal Bank of Queensland (85a on map)
Now the home of Sunshine Connections Promotions, the building was constructed in 1892 and used as a bank until 1979 when the building was sold. It is one of the most unique buildings in town.

Sunshine Connections provides a great example of early architecture in the Gympie CBD

216 & 218 Mary Street (6 on map), the buildings drawn on the front of this map
These two unique buildings were built in the early 1880's after the originals were destroyed by fire in 1881. The extensive ornamentation is typical of the period. The buildings are now the home of Peter Goldsworthy Optometrist and Jeffery, Cuddihy & Joyce Solicitors.

Smithfield Chambers Building (87 on map)
Now the home of Power & Cartwright Solicitors, the building was built in 1895 to house sharebrokers and mining secretaries.

Town Hall, across the street from the 5 Ways Cafe
Built in 1890, this was the home of the former Gympie City Council and is virtually on the spot of the original gold strike in Gympie by James Nash in 1867.

Stock Exchange Building (next to 1a on map)
Now the home of Neilson, Stanton and Parkinson legal firm, the building was built in 1888 for the Australian Joint Stock Bank. It served as the Gympie Stock Exchange from 1893 until 1923.

Bank of New South Wales (1a on map) Cooloola Shire Council Building
Now the home of Cooloola Shire Council, this building was built in 1890 and purchased by the then Widgee Shire Council in 1942.

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