Gympie's main street is the spine of its heritage centre. It bends and dips along the contour of the original goldfield rather than running on a grid, and the result is a streetscape of two- and three-storey 1880s and 1890s shopfronts following the lay of the land. Verandahs on cast-iron columns shade the footpaths, and many buildings still carry their original signage.
Walking the length of Mary Street from Excelsior Road up to Caledonian Hill gives you a strong sense of how much wealth came out of the surrounding hills during the boom decades.