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B−History
History · Vienna

Vienna dates to 1754, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #86 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it

Most of Vienna was built recently: 0.7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Its Register listing is the Freeman Store. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1880.

1754founded
1on the National Register
0.7%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
9famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Vienna’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Vienna began

When was Vienna founded?

1754

Vienna dates its founding to 1754 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 136 in 18802020 census: 16,473272 years

How historic is Vienna?

B−

More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1857.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 51% of U.S. towns, #86 of 253 in Virginia. 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.
Founding era1754, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 19400.7% of homes (±0.5) · typical VA town 1.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical VA town 3.6 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 51%
NewerOlder
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 66%

Virginia towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Virginia town has 3.6 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Vienna’s 0.6 sits near the middle of its state (38% of Virginia towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1754.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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.

A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1860–1910.On the map since 19157 editions of the USGS map, 1915 to 1994. Watch Vienna change.Older than the countryEstablished in 1754, 22 years before the Declaration of Independence.Famous sons and daughtersGarrett Roe, Katherine Hadford and 7 more were born here.
★ What stands out · By decade

Vienna, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items
Vienna1860Vienna"Fred Leach (locomotive), Union Camp near Vienna, Virginia."1861"Fred Leach (locomotive), Union Camp near Vienna, Vir…
1900s5 items
Vienna, Va., station of the Southern railway system, 19091909Vienna, Va., station of the Southern railway system, …Vienna, Va., station of the Southern railway system, 19091909Vienna, Va., station of the Southern railway system, …Vienna, Va., station of the Southern, 19091909Vienna, Va., station of the Southern, 1909Vienna, Va., station of the Southern, 19091909Vienna, Va., station of the Southern, 1909Vienna, Va., station of the Southern, 19091909Vienna, Va., station of the Southern, 1909
1910s5 items
First school house, Vienna, Va1910First school house, Vienna, VaFirst school house, Vienna, Va1910First school house, Vienna, VaP.O., Vienna, Va1910P.O., Vienna, VaP.O., Vienna, Va1910P.O., Vienna, VaSanderson group1910Sanderson group
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Vienna on the map, 1915 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Vienna. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Vienna on the 1915 USGS mapVienna on the 1944 USGS mapVienna on the 1951 USGS mapVienna on the 1966 USGS mapVienna on the 1971 USGS mapVienna on the 1980 USGS mapVienna on the 1994 USGS map1915Fairfax sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Vienna.

Timeline

Vienna, 1754 to 1989

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 18th century
  2. 1754
    FoundingVienna is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1857Post officeThe Ayr Hill post office opens
  5. 1860In the archiveVienna
  6. 1862Post officeThe Ayr Hill post office closes
  7. 1862Post officeThe Vienna post office opens
  8. 1867Born hereCharles DeLano Hine is born here
  9. 20th century
  10. 1909In the archiveVienna, Va., station of the Southern railway system, 1909
  11. 1910In the archiveFirst school house, Vienna, Va
  12. 1915On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1970Born hereMichael McCrary is born here
  14. 1988Born hereGarrett Roe is born here
  15. 1989Born hereKatherine Hadford is born here
The story

How Vienna came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vienna.

Read it all →

European settlement in the region dates to the mid-18th century. In 1754, soldier and landowner Colonel Charles Broadwater settled within the town boundaries. Broadwater's son-in-law, John Hunter, built the first recorded house there in 1767, naming it Ayr Hill to recall his birthplace, Ayr, Scotland. That name was then applied to the community. The town's name was changed in the 1850s, when a doctor, William Hendrick, settled there and the town renamed itself after his hometown, Phelps, New York, which at the time was known as Vienna.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Vienna
Retake this viewVienna, 1860

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Vienna’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Vienna

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2012
Freeman Store
Freeman Store
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Mid 19th Century Commercial1
Freeman StoreMid 19th Century Commercial

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Vienna, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 17,146

Between 136 and 17,146 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Vienna’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

9 famous people were born in Vienna

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Garrett RoeAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1988
Katherine HadfordAmerican figure skater · b. 1989
Michael McCraryPlayer of American football · b. 1970
Charles DeLano HineColonel, United States Army; civil engineer; la… · b. 1867
S
Sandra BeasleyAmerican writer · b. 1980
Velta BennAmerican pilot · b. 1917
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Vienna’s post office has been open since 1862. Another post office, Ayr Hill, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ayr Hill
1857–1862
Vienna
1862–today
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FranklinVienna Woods
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Vienna
Broadwater FamilyMoore - Hunter Family

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Vienna’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewVienna: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Wolf TrapIts storyD−Oakton1 historic placeC−Dunn LoringIts storyDTysonsIts storyD

Questions about Vienna’s history

What year was Vienna founded?

In 1754, according to Wikidata. Vienna’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1880 counted 136 people here.

How does Vienna rank for history?

Vienna is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #86 of 253 in Virginia. 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?

One place: the Freeman Store (listed 2012).

How old are the homes in Vienna?

0.7% of Vienna’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.9% for a Virginia town; the median home was built in 1971.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (10), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.