18/09/2026
Longreach was surveyed in 1887 by Surveyor Desgrand who was responsible for naming the streets after birds.
The streets parallel to the main street were named after land birds while those running at right angle were named after water birds.
Desgrand surveyed many of the towns in the central west. In each town he named the streets following a theme:
Longreach - Birds;
Blackall - Flowers;
Barcaldine - Trees;
Arrilalah (Forrest Grove) - Philosophers
Jaques Vincent Stephenson Desgrand was born in Paris in 1852 and came to Queensland in 1868 at 16 years where he was articled to surveyor George Weal. On obtaining his license entered the Government service.
In 1877 he was appointed Commissioner for Crown Lands for the Mitchell and Gregory North pastoral district, of which Longreach later became a major centre.
In 1890 he became a grazier and surveyor acting on his own behalf. After the bad seasons in 1900-1902 he rejoined the Lands Department, and was appointed land commissioner at Barcaldine, which office he held until 1914 when he was retired to Brisbane.
