[1][2] The former Bank of New South Wales building located in upper Mary Street, Gympie was designed by Richard Gailey and built in 1890–1891.

[1] As Gympie evolved from a hastily established mining settlement, the early makeshift structures of the 1860s gradually gave way to more permanent and substantial public and private buildings from the mid-1870s.

The influx of money and the resultant yield of gold was reflected in the redevelopment of upper Mary Street during the 1880s and 1890s with substantial commercial buildings such as banks, company secretaries' and brokers' offices.

An 1868 photograph of lower Mary Street, Gympie shows the Bank of New South Wales operating from a weatherboard-clad building with a shingle roof.

[1] Over the ensuing years, as it became increasingly clear that the Gympie goldfield was a long-term proposition, a series of steps towards permanency were taken by the bank reflecting this longevity.

These enormous amounts of gold were purchased by banks such as the BNSW, which played a vital role in this process of wealth creation and distribution.

The second storey of the building comprised the manager's residence and an early photograph shows a verandah on the lower (eastern) side of the first floor.

The Gympie field passed through its most profitable period from 1901 to 1906 and in 1903 recorded an output of 146,000 fine ounces (surpassing Mount Morgan that year).

A compact but grand, three-storey, rendered brick building in a classical idiom, the former Bank of New South Wales stands prominently to upper Mary Street, Gympie.

The upper-level outer bays accommodate pedimented full pane sash windows framed by plain projecting architraves with base ears.

[1] The Reef Street elevation consists of the west wing, each level of which is punctuated by a central full pane sash window, and the enclosed extension beyond the upper-level verandah.

The southeast elevation is divided into four bays by plain pilasters, is crowned by a blind parapet concealing the hipped roof beyond, and is punctuated by full pane sash windows to each level.

A lower curved parapet screens the rear upper-level verandah roof and the elevation houses a narrow rectangular louvred window.

The banking chamber is accessed from the central main entrance off Mary Street and is notable for its decorative pressed metal ceiling.

The manager's office, opening off the chamber to the northwest, has a pressed metal ceiling, granite surround fireplace, and a substantial strong room to the southwest.

The strong room, a painted brick rectangular space with a barrel-vaulted ceiling, has a heavy metal door with the maker's plate "Milners' 212 Patent Thief-Resisting".

The accountant/clerk's office, a large rectangular room to the southwest of the banking chamber is notable for its decorative plaster ceiling in an art deco style.

All interior walls are plastered and this level is notable for decorative pressed metal ceilings to rooms, hall, corridor, and staircase soffits and the retention of much original cedar joinery including skirtings, architraves, doors, and windows.

Accessed from the rear verandah, the single room west wing is lit by full pane sash windows on three sides and has a recent plain plaster ceiling.

The former Bank of New South Wales building and the important gold-era precinct of which it is a part are physical evidence of the evolution of Gympie gold mining, a major contributor to the wealth of Queensland for approximately 60 years from 1867.

[1] Its siting near Commissioner's Hill in the vicinity of important government and gold-related buildings, and its later sale when the centre of the town moved eastwards after gold production ceased also illustrate the evolution of Gympie's development.

This two-storey masonry structure in the classical style retains its banking chamber, offices, strong room, vaults, and manager's residence.

The former bank building has aesthetic significance for its architectural qualities expressed in the craftsmanship and detailing of the joinery and finishes, and for its streetscape value through its form, scale and design.

[1] Its balanced classical design, often associated with banks, projects the concept of stability that financial institutions of this era sought to convey through their buildings' architecture.