Vienna, Virginia
Encyclopedia
Vienna is a town in Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses (22180, 22181, and 22182) bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to the north, and Hunter Mill road.

In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Vienna fourth on its list of the 100 best places to live in the United States. In addition to highly ranked public schools, its assets include a downtown with many small businesses, a Washington Metro
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...

 station with large parking garages (the western terminus of the Orange Line
Orange Line (Washington Metro)
The Orange Line of the Washington Metro consists of 26 rapid transit stations from Vienna to New Carrollton. It has stations in Fairfax County and Arlington, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Prince George's County, Maryland. Half of the line's stations are shared with the Blue Line, and over...

) just south of the town, and a portion of the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park
Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park
The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a popular and unusually-shaped regional park in Northern Virginia. The park's primary feature is the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail , an asphalt-surfaced paved rail trail that runs through densely populated urban and suburban...

 hiker/biker trail cutting through the center of the town. Tysons Corner is nearby, as is Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, known locally in the Washington, D.C. area as simply Wolf Trap, is a performing arts center located on 130 acres of national park land in Wolf Trap, Virginia...

.

History

The town was originally called Ayr Hill, after the name of the house built by early settler John Hunter, who named it after the place of his birth, Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...

, in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The name of the town was changed in the 1850s, when a doctor named William Hendrick offered to move there if the town would rename itself after his hometown, Vienna, New York
Vienna, New York
Vienna is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 5,819 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the capital of Austria.The Town of Vienna is in the western part of the county.- History :...

, which in turn is named after Vienna, Austria.

On June 17, 1861, four companies of Union troops led by Brigadier General Robert C. Schenck
Robert C. Schenck
Robert Cumming Schenck was a Union Army general in the American Civil War, and American diplomatic representative to Brazil and the United Kingdom. He was at both battles of Bull Run and took part in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, and the Battle of Cross Keys...

 were approaching Vienna from the East by train, when they were ambushed by Confederate troops supported by an artillery battery. The Union forces scattered into the woods, and the locomotive made a hasty retreat. Eight Union soldiers were killed and several were wounded.

The First Baptist Church of Vienna was founded in 1867, and the original church structure was built using Union Army barracks lumber obtained through the Freedman's Bureau. This church building was also the town's first black public school. The first white public school was built in 1872. A permanent black elementary school was built, which was later named for its long-time principal, Louise Archer. Fairfax County Schools were completely desegregated by the Fall of 1965.

Vienna was the home of Robert Hanssen
Robert Hanssen
Robert Philip Hanssen is a former American FBI agent who spied for Soviet and Russian intelligence services against the United States for 22 years from 1979 to 2001...

, the location where he exchanged many secrets for Russian diamonds, and the place where he was arrested.

Geography

Vienna is located at 38°54′N 77°16′W (38.8991, -77.2607) at an elevation of 358 feet (109 m). It lies in the Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...

 approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) southwest of the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

. Wolftrap Creek, a tributary of nearby Difficult Run
Difficult Run
Difficult Run is a tributary stream of the Potomac River in northern Virginia in the United States. The term "run" for "stream" is common usage in this part of Virginia and throughout the mid-Atlantic region; another "run" is better known in American Civil War history: Bull Run. Difficult Run...

, flows north from its source in the eastern part of town. The Bear Branch of Accotink Creek
Accotink Creek
Accotink Creek is a tributary stream of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. At Springfield, Accotink Creek is dammed to create Lake Accotink. The stream empties into the Potomac at Gunston Cove's Accotink Bay, to the west of Fort Belvoir.-External links:**...

, a Potomac tributary, flows south from its source in the southern part of town. Located in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...

 on Interstate 66
Interstate 66
Interstate 66 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. As indicated by its even route number, it runs in an east–west direction. Its western terminus is at Middletown, Virginia, at an intersection with Interstate 81; its eastern terminus is in Washington, D.C., at an...

, Vienna is 12 miles (19.3 km) west of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 and 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Fairfax
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....

, the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.5 km²), all of it land. As a suburb of Washington, D.C., Vienna is a part of both the Washington Metropolitan Area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...

 and the larger Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
The Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area is a combined statistical area consisting of the overlapping labor market region of the cities of Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C.. The region includes Central Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Jefferson County in the Eastern Panhandle of West...

. It is bordered on all sides by other Washington suburbs, including: Wolf Trap
Wolf Trap, Virginia
Wolf Trap is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 14,001 at the 2000 census. Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is located in the CDP.-Geography:...

 to the north, Tysons Corner
Tysons Corner, Virginia
Tysons Corner is an unincorporated census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Part of the Washington Metropolitan Area located in Northern Virginia, Tysons Corner lies between the community of McLean and the town of Vienna along the Capital Beltway . The population was...

 to the northeast, Dunn Loring
Dunn Loring, Virginia
Dunn Loring is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,803 at the 2010 census.-History:...

 to the east, Merrifield
Merrifield, Virginia
Merrifield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 11,170 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Merrifield is located at...

 to the south, and Oakton
Oakton, Virginia
Oakton is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. The population was 29,348 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 22124.-Geography:Oakton is located at...

 to the west. These communities are unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

, and portions of them lie in ZIP codes with Vienna postal addresses despite lying outside the town's borders.

Climate

Vienna has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa)
Humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...

 characterized by hot, humid summers and cool winters. The average temperature in Vienna is 54.5 °F (12.5 °C). Over the course of a year, temperatures range from an average low of 24 °F (-4.4 °C) in January to an average high of 89 °F (31.7 °C) in July. The high temperature reaches or exceeds 90 °F (32.2 °C) an average of 31.9 days a year and reaches or exceeds 100 °F (37.8 °C) an average of 0.8 days a year. The minimum temperature falls below the freezing point 32 °F (0 °C) an average of 96.0 days a year. Typically, the first fall freeze occurs between the last week of October and the second week of November, and the last spring freeze occurs between the last week of March and the third week of April. Vienna receives 45 inches (1,143 mm) of precipitation during an average year, receiving between 3 inches (76.2 mm) and 4.4 inches (111.8 mm) per month year round. During a typical year, the total amount of precipitation may be anywhere from 34 inches (863.6 mm) to 58 inches (1,473.2 mm). There are, on average, 121 days of measurable precipitation each year. Annual snowfall averages 19 inches (48.3 cm), but the median is 9 inches (22.9 cm). Measurable snowfall occurs an average of eight days a year with at least an inch of snow being received on five of those days. Snow depth of at least an inch occurs an average of 18 days a year. On average, January is the coldest month, July is the hottest month, and May is the wettest month. The hottest temperature recorded in Vienna was 105 °F (41 °C) in 1997; the coldest temperature recorded was -11 °F (-24 °C) in 1985.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 15,687 people, 5,528 households, and 4,215 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 3,565.2 per square mile (1,376.5/km²). There were 5,686 housing units at an average density of 1,292.3 per square mile (494.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 75.5% White, 12.1% Asian, 3.2% African American, 0.3% Native American, 5.3% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 3.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.0% of the population.

There were 5,528 households out of which 39.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.4% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 3.7% had a male householder with no wife present, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.8% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84, and the average family size was 3.19.

In the town, the population was spread out with 25.7% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 30.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males age 18 and over.

As of 2009, the median income for a household in the town was $113,817, and the median income for a family was $124,895. Males had a median income of $88,355 versus $66,642 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $49,544. About 3.7% of families and 5.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Primary and secondary schools

The town is served by Fairfax County Public Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools
The Fairfax County Public Schools system is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax...

.

Vienna is home to two high schools (Oakton and Madison), two middle schools, and six elementary schools. However, of all the schools Vienna students attend, only four elementary schools: Cunningham Park Elementary School, Marshall Road Elementary School, Louise Archer Elementary School
Louise Archer Elementary School
Located in the west of the town of Vienna, Virginia, United States, Louise Archer Elementary School is one of many elementary schools part of Fairfax County Public Schools...

, and Vienna Elementary School are actually located in the official town limits.

The music program at James Madison High School
James Madison High School (Fairfax County, Virginia)
James Madison High School is a high school located in an unincorporated area of Fairfax County, Virginia, adjacent to the town limits of Vienna, and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools. Oakton High School is James Madison High School's main rival, although other rivals include Langley High...

 includes a marching band, "The Pride of Vienna", and color guard, two symphonic bands, jazz band, orchestra, and chorus. The Crew team at James Madison has won many awards http://www.warhawkcrew.org/Home/tabid/112/Default.aspx. The novice team had won states three years in a row http://www.warhawkcrew.org/Home/tabid/112/Default.aspx In addition, the Women's Junior Eight of 2010 won second in the nation as well as Virginia States http://www.warhawkcrew.org/Home/tabid/112/Default.aspx. Their Team sent all their boats but two, to the nationals in Saratoga http://www.warhawkcrew.org/Home/tabid/112/Default.aspx. The JMHS Crew team has won more State titles in the year 2010 than the Baseball team has ever won, making crew the most successful sport at James Madison High School http://www.warhawkcrew.org/Home/tabid/112/Default.aspx. Their Varsity Baseball team has won 18 District titles, 5 Region titles, and 3 State titles (1968, 1971, 2002), led by Coach Tom Christie's 8-year run which produced 11 of the 26 titles (6 district/3 region/2 state). A water tower stating "Home of the Warhawks" can be seen towering over the school. Thoreau Middle School shares a class with Joyce Kilmer Middle School
Joyce Kilmer Middle School
Joyce Kilmer Middle School is a school in the Fairfax County Public Schools System in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, east of the city of Vienna. Kilmer serves grades 7-8. It was named after the journalist and poet Joyce Kilmer...

 (also located in Vienna) and Longfellow Middle School (located in Falls Church). Kilmer had accelerated programs for students that have passed certain aptitude tests, known as the Gifted and Talented (GT) program. This program has also been introduced into Luther Jackson Middle School. Kilmer also has a band and orchestra program, and recently started up a Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad
Science Olympiad is an American elementary, middle, or high school team competition which tests knowledge of various science topics and engineering ability. Over 6,200 teams from 49 U.S. states compete each year. Most teams compete in three levels of competition: regionals, states, and nationals...

 and Chess Club program. Close to Madison sit the six elementary schools: Flint Hill Elementary (not to be confused with Flint Hill School
Flint Hill School
Flint Hill School, founded in 1956, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school, in Oakton, Virginia, in the United States. Its campus is located in the heart of Fairfax County close to the Vienna Metro and just off major routes into Washington, DC and the Dulles Technology...

, a private school in neighboring Oakton, Virginia
Oakton, Virginia
Oakton is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the United States. The population was 29,348 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 22124.-Geography:Oakton is located at...

), Louise Archer (which also has an AP program), Marshall Road, Vienna Elementary, Wolftrap, and Cunningham Park. Each of these schools send graduates into Thoreau, Kilmer, Luther Jackson Middle School or Longfellow, and afterwards James Madison High School, Oakton High School
Oakton High School
Oakton High School is a public high school in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in proximity to the town of Vienna, in the United States. It is part of Fairfax County Public Schools....

 (just outside Vienna on the border with Oakton, with a Vienna address), George C. Marshall High School
George C. Marshall High School
George C. Marshall High School is a public school in Idylwood, unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, and part of Fairfax County Public Schools . Newsweek ranked Marshall 159th on its 2009 list of the top U.S. high schools.-Name:...

 (in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County), Falls Church High School
Falls Church High School
Falls Church High School is a high school located in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia. While the school has a Falls Church, Virginia mailing address, the school is not located in the city of Falls Church and does not serve the City of Falls Church, which is served by...

 (just outside Vienna in Merrifield
Merrifield, Virginia
Merrifield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 11,170 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Merrifield is located at...

) or McLean High School
McLean High School
McLean High School is a public secondary school located in McLean, Virginia. It is located on 1633 Davidson Road and is part of Fairfax County Public Schools....

. Freedom Hill Elementary, which recently started a Gifted and Talented program, sends graduates to Kilmer, and afterward to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is a Virginia state-chartered magnet school located within Fairfax County, Virginia, United States...

 or Marshall High School. Residents of Vienna that live along the town's border with Great Falls, VA also send graduates into Langley High School via Cooper Middle School. Because of the large influx of new residents in the last decade, the classes of '09, '10, and '11 at these regional high schools are expected to be the largest over the next ten years.

Public libraries

Fairfax County Public Library
Fairfax County Public Library
The Fairfax County Public Library is a public library system headquartered in Suite 324 in the Fairfax County Government Center at 12000 Government Center Parkway in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States....

 operates the Patrick Henry Library in Vienna.

Economy

MAE-East
MAE-East
MAE-East is an Internet Exchange Point spread across the east coast of the United States, with locations in Vienna, Virginia; Reston, Virginia; Ashburn, Virginia; New York, New York; and Miami, Florida. It is the eastern branch of the MCI Internet Exchange. Its name officially stands for...

 is located within the Vienna postal area in Tysons Corner CDP. This served as one of two locations (in addition to MAE-West
MAE-West
MAE-West is a major Internet exchange point located on the west coast of the U.S. in San Jose, California and Los Angeles, California. Its name officially stands for "Metropolitan Area Exchange, West", although some note the similarity to the name of the actress Mae West...

) where all Internet traffic was exchanged between one ISP and other private, government, and academic Internet networks and served as a magnet for telecom and other high-tech companies focused on the Internet. In 1995 America Online (AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...

) was headquartered at 8619 Westwood Center Drive in Tysons Corner CDP
Tysons Corner, Virginia
Tysons Corner is an unincorporated census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Part of the Washington Metropolitan Area located in Northern Virginia, Tysons Corner lies between the community of McLean and the town of Vienna along the Capital Beltway . The population was...

 in unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

, near Vienna.

Top employers

According to the Town's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
# Employer # of Employees
1 Navy Federal Credit Union
Navy Federal Credit Union
Navy Federal Credit Union is a credit union headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, chartered and regulated under the authority of the National Credit Union Administration of the U.S. federal government. Navy Federal is the largest natural member credit union in the world, both in asset size and in...

2,500+
2 Fairfax County Public Schools
Fairfax County Public Schools
The Fairfax County Public Schools system is a branch of the Fairfax County government which administers public schools in Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax...

500-999
3 Town of Vienna 100-249
4 Cardiovascular Management Group 100-249
5 Westwood Country Club 100-249
6 Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market is a foods supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas which emphasizes "natural and organic products." The company has been ranked among the most socially responsible businesses and placed third on the U.S...

100-249
7 Contemporary Electrical Services 100-249
8 Giant Food 100-249
9 Wheat's Landscape 100-249
10 United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...

100-249

Points of interest

  • Jammin' Java coffeehouse and music club
    Jammin' Java
    Jammin' Java is a 200-seat music club and coffee bar located at 227 Maple Avenue East in Vienna, Virginia, and was founded in 1999. In 2001 the venue was bought and revamped by the Brindley brothers who currently own and run it today...

  • Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
    Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
    Meadowlark Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens and an event venue located at 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court, Vienna, Virginia, 22182. They are open daily except for major holidays and ice; an admission fee is charged. Photography is allowed when a proper reservation has been made, additional...

  • The Raleigh DeGeer Amyx Collection
  • Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
    Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
    Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, known locally in the Washington, D.C. area as simply Wolf Trap, is a performing arts center located on 130 acres of national park land in Wolf Trap, Virginia...

     (located in the CDP
    Census-designated place
    A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

     of Wolf Trap, Virginia
    Wolf Trap, Virginia
    Wolf Trap is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 14,001 at the 2000 census. Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is located in the CDP.-Geography:...

    )

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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