Most of Vienna was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listings are the Vienna Public Library and the Johnson County Courthouse. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1850.
Founding year: the first Vienna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Vienna’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Vienna is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Vienna’s overall grade.
Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Vienna’s 10.7 sits above most of its state (84% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Vienna’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
Vienna was originally an Indian trading post in the early 1800s, the forming of Vienna far preceded the rise of the railroad and coal industries in the region, but it was not named after Austria's capital. Platted as early as 1818 - the same year Illinois became a state - and named the county seat, Vienna was incorporated as a village in 1837 and then as a city in 1893. It has served as the county seat for close to 200 years. In fact, the first post office opened in 1821 before the town was ever incorporated. Vienna is also one of the settlements tens of thousands of Native Americans were forced to pass through in 1830 en route to Oklahoma where they were relocated by the U.S. government. That forced migration westward came to be known as the Trail of Tears due to the brutal conditions that the Native Americans faced. Having to walk barefoot in the middle of winter, thousands died by or…
Passages that mention Vienna, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of Johnson County, Illinois1925 · page 49Read the page →
Read the text
Pope." John Peterson to superintend that part between the afore said bridge and the town of Vienna. " Ivy Reynolds from Vienna to Simpson and Samuel Stanton Simpson from his house to the county line of Pope." "On the old road from Golconda to Jonesboro; Joshua Elkins to superintend that part of said road which lies between Dutchman Lick and the county line of Union." "Samuel McGowan from said Lick eastward as far as the line that divided Vienna
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A history of Johnson County, Illinois1925 · page 155Read the page →
Read the text
resident here long after the white settlers came. "West Settlement in Johnson County on the west side of Cache, fine fertile tracks of land, 30 families. The McFatridge settlement eight miles northeast of Vienna, on old road from Golconda to Kaskaskia, on Cedar Creek, 60 or 70 families. Bridges settlement ten miles west of Vienna, good land, 60 families."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Vienna, 1824 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Vienna post office opened in 1824, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Vienna rank for history?
Vienna is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Vienna?
Two places: the Vienna Public Library (listed 1995) and the Johnson County Courthouse (2010).
How old are the homes in Vienna?
8% of Vienna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1975.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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2024
2013
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