Gympie Ambulance Station (former)

The location of this former Ambulance Station on a hill in a suburban street might initially seem like a strange site. In fact, when it was built in 1904, it was located close to some of Gympie’s largest mine head-works; equidistant from the CBD, One Mile and Monkland mining areas. In 1904, 1723 miners were employed here. The ambulance service provided medical aid for an array of mining injuries, resulting from defective explosives, rock falls and machinery accidents, and treated 655 patients in its first year, after opening in May 1904. An ad hoc ambulance service had operated since 1898; first from a Mary Street hotel, and later from the fire station. The new purpose-built station included an adjacent superintendent’s house. Their wives were expected to handle emergency calls. A horse and sulky were used from mid-1912. Then a sulky ‘garage’ and a horse stable were erected behind the station. This site has had ongoing additions, including a new officer’s house in 1921, extensions to the front of the station to house cars in 1922, and a maintenance shed in 1924. The 1904 Gympie Ambulance Station served the community until 1959, is now a private home and not publically accessible.