Royal Bank of Queensland (former)

The Royal Bank of Queensland building in Mary Street, Gympie, was built in 1892 after a fire destroyed an entire block of earlier timber structures. The Royal Bank of Queensland was established in 1885 by local investors who were struggling to finance loans from sources outside the state. While the head office was in Brisbane, it had branches in the main mining towns of Charters Towers, Croydon and Gympie. This neo-classical rendered masonry bank building represents the transition from shallow to deep reef mining in Gympie and the consequential construction of a number of more permanent and elaborate buildings in the town; all clustered around upper Mary Street. Swedish architect Hugo Du Rietz, who designed the bank, was prolific in and around Gympie. He followed the gold rushes to Queensland, settled in Gympie in 1870, and practised as an architect here from 1871. His works include the School of Arts, the Surface Hill Wesleyan Church and numerous shops and cottages. In recent years, the former Royal Bank building has been the headquarters for the Gympie Muster – a popular country music festival. From 2011, the building housed a local marketing agency.