Town of Vienna

The Town of Vienna is an incorporated town located in Fairfax County.

History
The area that would eventually become Vienna was originally called Ayr Hill when it was settled about 1767 by John Hunter, who named it after his home in County Ayr, Scotland. The first post office was established there in 1857. In 1862, the name was changed to Vienna, after the hometown of William Hendrick, a developer who had emigrated to the area from his native New York.

The Town of Vienna was originally incorporated on February 28, 1890. The town was re-chartered in 1940, 1956, and 1964.

On January 1, 1958, the town was enlarged by 1400 acres annexed from Fairfax County. Also in 1958, the town adopted the town manager form of government.

On June 16, 1961, Vienna filed a petition to become a second-class city in a move to prevent the town from being absorbed into the city that would have been created in a proposed merger of Fairfax County and the Town of Clifton.

In 2005, Vienna was rated as the fourth-best place to live by Money magazine.

Government
The town is governed by an elected Mayor and a six-member Town Council. The mayor presides at meetings of the council, and has all of the rights and duties of other Council members.

The Vienna Town Council is unusual in that its members are elected to staggered two-year terms, meaning that Vienna holds an election every year.

Surroundings
Vienna is surrounded by Tysons Corner to the northeast, by Wolf Trap to the northwest, by Oakton to the west, by Merrifield to the south and Dunn Loring to the southeast.