Near Civic Centre, Longreach, at mid-day of summer solstice 2019. The monument is a few arc seconds south of Tropic of Capricorn. (See shadow directly below the sign.)
Longreach is in Central West Queensland, approximately 700 km (430 mi) from the coast, west of Rockhampton. The town is on the Tropic of Capricorn in the south-east of the locality. The town is named after the ‘long reach’ of the Thomson River on which it is situated.
In Longreach, the streets are named after species of birds, with the streets running east–west named after water birds and those running north–south after land birds.[5] The main business street is called Eagle Street. Other streets honour Hudson Fysh, an Australian aviation pioneer, and Sir James Walker, a farmer and long-serving mayor of the former Longreach Shire Council.
Kuungkari (also known as Kungkari and Koonkerri) is a language of Western Queensland. The Kuungkari language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Longreach Shire Council and Blackall-Tambo Shire Council.[7]
The first Europeans to enter the area were part of the expedition led by William Landsborough in 1862. This party initially tried to intimidate the resident Iningai by galloping their horses at them and shooting over their heads. However, they found the Iningai were a bold, powerfully built people who did not run away. Through an Aboriginal Native Police trooper named Jemmy who accompanied Landsborough and spoke the Iningai language, they were able to communicate with the Iningai and were told the geography of the region and shown the best roads to travel by. An Iningai man named Wittin acted as their guide.[8]
In 1862, the enormous Bowen Downs cattle station was established across the region by William Landsborough, Nathaniel Buchanan and Edward Cornish, with the financial backing of Robert Morehead and Matthew Young of the Scottish Australian Investment Company. In 1872, Bowen Downs was divided into two huge properties, the section along the Thomson River being named Mount Cornish, managed by Edward R. Edkins. An outstation of this Mount Cornish cattle station was called Longreach, because it was situated on a long reach of the Thomson River. This location later developed into the township of Longreach.[9]
The town of Longreach was gazetted in 1887,[10] and its post office opened on 1 October 1891.[11] The Central Western railway line reached the town on 15 February 1892,[12] causing the population to grow. Longreach State School opened on 22 May 1893 with an enrolment of 102 students,[13] and the Presentation Sisters founded a primary school in 1900 that became Our Ladies' College. In 1920 Qantas was formed making a big start to the little town. St Joseph's Primary School was established in 1925. In 1935 Our Ladies' College expanded to offer secondary education to Year 10, becoming the first secondary school in Central Western Queensland.[14]
Cominos Brothers opened a cafe in Eagle Street, the town’s main street in 1911.[15] The cafe was known as Comino Bros. Central Café and American Bar, probably because it had an American-style soda fountain.[16]
Longreach Rail Post Office opened by April 1940 and closed in 1962.[11]
Longreach State High School opened on 24 January 1966.[17]
Evesham State School opened in the former Morella on 23 January 1967. It was mothballed on 31 December 2009 and then permanently closed on 31 December 2010.[18][19][20]
In 1970, Queen Elizabeth II, The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Royal Highness Princess Anne toured Australia including Queensland. The Queensland tour began on Sunday 12 April when the royal yacht Britannia entered Moreton Bay at Caloundra, sailing into Newstead Wharf. After several days of engagements in the city of Brisbane, Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh commenced their regional tour flying to Longreach on Wednesday 15 April. The primary purpose for their stopover in Longreach was to visit the first operational base of Queensland’s first airline, Qantas, which became Australia’s Overseas Airline. During the visit they viewed an exhibition of Qantas memorabilia, including a replica of the company’s first aircraft, the AVRO 504K of 1921. The occasion marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of The Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, Limited (Qantas). Qantas Airways celebrated its centenary in 2020.[21]
On 1 January 1986, Our Ladies' College relocated to the St Joseph's site.[14] A pre-school was added in 1992. It returned to being only a primary school (P-6) at the end of 1994. In 2002, the school changed its name to Our Ladies' School.[14]
Longreach School of Distance Education (also known as Longreach School of the Air) opened on 27 January 1987.[22][23]
In early April 2010, Longreach experienced a significant locust plague described by local residents as the worst in three decades.[24][25]
In January 2019, it was decided to reduce the number of localities within Longreach Region by amalgamating the localities to the north and west of the town of Longreach into the locality of Longreach. The localities amalgamated were: Camoola, Chorregon, Ernestina, Maneroo, Morella, Tocal, and Vergemont.[26] As a consequence of this amalgamation, the Longreach Region has only three localities: Longreach, Ilfracombe and Isisford.[27]
On 17 August 2024, the purchase of this land[which?] to turn into a national park[which?], Queensland's environment minister, Leanne Linard, assured the industry that small-scale opal mining would still be permitted in suitable areas, aiming for a balance between conservation and mining. However, many in the industry, including Erik Madsen, founder of the Australian Opal Centre, remain sceptical. Madsen emphasized that opal is Australia's national gemstone, making this issue one of national significance. On that date, the miners have been mandated to retrieve licenses and permits to continue their work.[citation needed]
Demographics
In the 2011 census, the town of Longreach had a population of 3,137 people.[28]
In the 2016 census, the locality of Longreach had a population of 2,970 people.[29]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Longreach had a population of 3,124 people.[1]
4.9% of the population works in beef cattle farming compared to 0.7 per cent nationally.[1]
Facilities
Longreach has a visitor information centre, swimming pool, Powerhouse Museum[35] and parks. Shopping facilities in the town include IGA, FoodWorks and Prices Plus. As part of nationwide restructuring, Target Country closed its store on Eagle Street in April 2021.[36]
Until 2021, Longreach had a local cinema. Star Cinema Longreach operated for 33 years before closing due to a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in popularity of streaming services.[39] Prior to the construction of the modern Star Cinema in 1988, films were shown at the Roxy Theatre which was rebuilt and reopened in 1953 after a fire destroyed the original premises in 1952 forcing films to be temporarily screened in the shire hall.[40][41][42]
The Longreach Leader newspaper is issued weekly.[50] The Longreach area is also served by several locally based radio stations including ABC Western Queensland, and commercial stations 4LG and West FM.
Attractions
Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame in LongreachThe world's third oldest airline, Qantas, commenced operating in Longreach - from this hangar - now part of the Qantas Founders Museum.
Longreach is the home of the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame, which was officially opened in 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II. The purpose of the centre is to showcase the history and the culture of life in rural Australia. Since its opening, over 1 million people have passed through its doors.
Qantas Founders Outback Museum
Longreach was one of the founding centres for Qantas, the Australian domestic and international airline, the third oldest airline in the world (after KLM and Avianca), being founded on 16 November 1920 in Winton.[51] One of the airline's original hangars remains in use at the Longreach Airport and is listed on the Australian National Heritage List. The town is now the home of the Qantas Founders Outback Museum, which includes amongst its displays a decommissioned Qantas Boeing 747-200 aircraft, registration VH-EBQ, The City of Bunbury, and Qantas's first jet aircraft VH-XBA (formerly VH-EBA), a Boeing 707, The City of Canberra. In recognition of the town's place in company history, as well as a play on the airliner's extended range, all of Qantas's Boeing 747-400s had "Longreach" printed on both sides of the first jetway entry/exit doors.
The town is home to the Australian Agricultural College's Longreach Campus, which prepares students for work in the agricultural and pastoral industries. It was known previously as the Longreach Pastoral College. The campus was opened in 1967. Adjacent to the college is the Longreach School of Distance Education, which provides lessons to remote students, formerly by HF radio but now using telephone lines. The agricultural college in Longreach closed December 2019.[52]
Edgar Towner, Victoria Cross winner, died in Longreach and was buried in the cemetery there. His grave is a protected place.
Climate
Longreach experiences a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen: BSh), with very hot summers and very mild winters, albeit with cool nights. There is strong seasonal temperature variation, with average maxima vary from 23.7 °C (74.7 °F) in July to 37.6 °C (99.7 °F) in December. Average annual rainfall is low: 430.5 mm (16.95 in), occurring within 32.6 rainfall days, primarily in the summer. The town is sunny, averaging 163.7 clear days and only 51.6 cloudy days annually.[53]
Extreme temperatures have ranged from −3.3 °C (26.1 °F) on 27 June 1908 and 6 July 1908 to 47.9 °C (118.2 °F) on 26 January 1947.[54]
Climate data for Longreach (23º26'24"S, 144º16'48"E, 192 m AMSL) (1966-2024 normals and extremes, rainfall to 1949)
^"Longreach Library". Public Libraries Connect. State Library of Queensland. 18 August 2014. Archived from the original on 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
Mims, Jeanne M; Queensland Country Women's Association. Morella Branch (1992), Morella memories : a local history, Q.C.W.A. Morella Branch, ISBN978-0-646-11367-8
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