The first private land sale occurred on Gympie Road near
Kedron Brook in 1857. Farms, slaughter yards and tanneries were common sights along Gympie Road prior to
World War I. The
tram line from the
Brisbane central business district was extended to Kedron Park Hotel in 1914,
Lutwyche Cemetery in 1925 and
Chermside in 1947. The tram service was closed in 1968 and replaced with diesel buses. In 1922, there was a proposal to build
Anzac Avenue as a memorial to those who died in
World War I. The memorial avenue was to run from the Brisbane central business district to
Redcliffe (which, at that time, was not connected to Brisbane by road, only by sea). This proposal would use and rename Gympie Road for the northward part of the route and then extend it eastwards towards Redcliffe. However, in its final form, Anzac Avenue commenced at
Petrie rather than Brisbane and so Gympie Road was only renamed from Petrie onwards (which is why Gympie Road terminates at Petrie today). The first segment of Anzac Avenue from Petrie to
Kallangur was formerly Gympie Road. However, at Kallangur, Anzac Avenue left Gympie Road to go east, leaving parts of Gympie Road going north through Kallangur to
Burpengary disconnected (as a name) from the Brisbane-to-Petrie section. The segment from Kallangur to Burpengary was later renamed Old Gympie Road. The first integrated
shopping mall in Queensland opened on the corner of Gympie Road and Hamilton Road,
Chermside in 1957. Originally called the Chermside Drive-in Shopping Centre, it has extended on many occasions and is now
Westfield Chermside. The route was formerly part of the
Bruce Highway and carried the designation National Route 1 until the
Gateway Bridge opened in 1986. Since then, the route has had the designations of Alt Route 1 and Metroad 3. == Future ==