In 1914 the Gympie City Council donated 7.55 hectares (18.7 acres) of land, known as Tozer Park, for a new high school.

An additional 4.01 hectares (9.9 acres) of land (Portion 21, R689) was then obtained just north of Tozer Park, to provide level ground on which to site the school building.

[23][24][25] To help ensure consistency and economy, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings.

Classes commenced on 3 September 1917 and the highset timber school building was officially opened on 19 October 1917, during Gympie's 50th anniversary celebrations, with an enrolment of 146 students.

For many years school committees had to raise funds for construction of such facilities, which included tennis courts, gymnasiums and swimming pools.

[38][1] Gymnasiums were regarded in the late 19th century by Victorian society as a way to maintain physical fitness and beauty, and pursue self-improvement (and Muscular Christianity) in the industrial age.

Typical gymnasium equipment included ropes and rings; parallel bars, horizontal and sloping ladders, wooden horses and mats.

In 1933 the school's Sports Committee planned to erect, with their own funds, a "partially enclosed sports shelter shed", that could be used as a gymnasium and for social functions (with a preliminary estimated cost of £260), and the Committee requested design assistance and building supervision from the Department of Public Works.

During 1939 and early 1940 the manual training building was extended to the east, and a new domestic science block was erected to its northwest.

[44][45][46][47] During World War II (WWII), slit trenches were dug on the school grounds in early 1942, in case of air raids.

[49][1] After World War II, enrolment at the school increased above the previous peak of 327 students, resulting in further buildings.

This standard type, of which Block T in Gympie is a good example, was introduced as a temporary solution to the exceptional growth in student numbers during WWII and the immediate post-war period, when skilled labour was scarce and materials were in short supply.

[55][56][57][1] During the early 1950s the gymnasium continued to be multi-purpose, being used for Intermediate school assemblies and singing; folk dancing and choir practice for High and Intermediate students; as a shelter shed on wet days; for verse speaking, concerts, drama, the annual flower show, and entertaining visiting sports teams.

[59] However, on the night of 18 May 1955 the main school building burnt down due to fire breaking out in a chemistry room.

[60] Firefighters had no water pressure to fight the blaze, as the mains over the Mary River had been carried away in floods two months previously.

These buildings were timber-framed structures with a gable roof, highset on stumps, and the understorey was used as covered play space.

[71] In 1954 the type was improved by replacing the proliferation of stumps with a timber truss that spanned the width of the classroom and provided an unimpeded play space.

This concept was further refined in 1957 by replacing the timber truss with a steel open-web joist, supported on reinforced concrete columns.

By 1982 the chemistry lab and storeroom had been condemned and were being used for storage, with the rest of the floor used for art and a normal classroom.

[78] The high quality of the buildings was recognised at the time and Blocks B and C were chosen as examples of notable High School architecture in "Buildings of Queensland", a 1959 publication recording Queensland's architecture produced by the state chapter of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects.

[88][1] In 1960–61, a two-storey Agricultural Science wing was added north of the east end of Block D. This gable-roofed timber-framed building, with open web steel trusses and brick end walls, was linked to Block D on both levels by a covered glass and metal covered way.

They have gable roofs clad with corrugated metal sheets and are positioned around a broad open courtyard.

The gablets have fixed metal ventilation louvres and a weatherboard-clad windowless dormer rises out of the roof at the west end of the building producing a taller internal area.

[1] Originally comprising two classrooms, the partition has been removed to make one large space, although a bulkhead remains.

[1] Gympie State High School was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 September 2018 having satisfied the following criteria.

[1] The temporary classroom building (1951) is a product of the exceptional growth in student numbers after World War II, when skilled labour was scarce and materials were in short supply.

[1] The buildings retain their: highset character with timber or open web steel trusses; gable roofs; face brick walls and crimped metal sheet and chamferboard cladding; verandahs for circulation; timber-framed double hung windows (Blocks B, C and D), or metal-framed glass louvres (Agricultural Science extension) to the verandah; timber-framed pivoting clerestory windows above the verandah roof (Blocks B and D); large banks of timber-framed awning windows with timber framed pivot fanlights on the opposing walls; and 24 ft (7.3 m) wide classrooms (Blocks B, C and D).

It retains: its gable roof (characteristic of 1949-51 examples); lowset timber-framed structure; north facing verandah; timber sash windows to the verandah; casement windows with fanlights over; vertical jointed (VJ) board cladding; and a bulkhead indicates the position of the original wall between its two 21 ft × 18 ft (6.4 m × 5.5 m) classrooms.

They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations.

The former gymnasium is the result of community fundraising efforts to provide sporting facilities for Gympie children.