History
The Gympie Times was founded just a few short months after a massive gold discovery on what was known then as Gympie Creek. Gold prospector James Nash wandered into the Mary Valley from the west in October, 1867, and struck a good show of gold at what became known as Nash's Gully (near the site of the present Town Hall).
He claimed the Queensland colony's reward for the first person to find payable gold within 100 miles of Brisbane and is credited with saving Queensland from bankruptcy. After recording his find, the government named the field Nashville and miners from all over the world and Australia flocked to the area in a major gold rush.
It was to this rag tag collection of tents and shanty dwellings that a robust band of newspapermen journeyed in early 1868 to set up the first newspaper, the Nashville Times and Mary River Mining Gazette. A heavy press and type had to be brought by bullock wagon from Ipswich and the first edition of the paper was produced as floodwaters swirled through the makeshift premises.
Nashville's name was later changed to Gympie to reflect the original name of the area and the gold mining era was long and successful, with deep mining well below the streets of a prosperous city which grew up around the miners.
A drop in the gold price in the early 20th century meant the end of gold mining as a major industry and dairy and beef production and the railway came to the fore. In recent years, the district's proximity to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast has meant continued prosperity and development for Gympie without losing its country charm.
Read more about this topic: The Gympie Times
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We know only a single science, the science of history. One can look at history from two sides and divide it into the history of nature and the history of men. However, the two sides are not to be divided off; as long as men exist the history of nature and the history of men are mutually conditioned.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)