ViennaBaseballFoundation.org

Among the many attractive communities roughly adjacent to the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, Vienna, Virginia, stands out. A rare combination of lovely ‘hometown’ surroundings, excellent community resources, and numerous commercial advantages (including the proximity to Tyson’s Corner and the Metrorail) earn Vienna its status as an ideal place to live or to visit.

For a century starting in the mid-1700′s, the village was known as “Ayr Hill” after the John Hunter house of the same name. The region as a whole was sparsely settled, with less than a dozen homes. While an influx of new residents came in the mid-1800′s, along with a plow factory and the railroad, the population dropped again during the Civil War. Occupying the frontier between North and South, Vienna saw plenty of damage and skirmishes, especially during the First Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas).

Ayr Hill was renamed Vienna at the request of Dr. William Hendrick — not for the Austrian city, but for his upstate New York hometown. Many Northerners came South after the close of the war, including Vienna’s first mayor, Major Orrin T. Hine. A major supporter of public schools, Mayor Hine did much to rebuild and improve Vienna until his death in 1900.

The first half of the 20th Century mainly saw Vienna maintaining a quiet and rural atmosphere, with a population well under 2,000 until after the second World War. The national move from city to suburbs during the 1950′s gave Vienna a sudden influx of 10,000 new residents, mainly from the D.C. area.

With Fairfax Hospital, Dulles Airport, the Vienna Community Center, and Tyson’s Corner all opening during the 1960′s, the region grew rapidly. By the time the Vienna Metrorail station opened, in 1986, the town itself boasted nearly 15,000 citizens, not even counting the outlying areas.

Fairfax County as a whole is consistently regarded as one of the best public school systems in the United States — perhaps in no small part to the legacy of Major Hine. Over 50% of Fairfax County revenues goes to public education (so there will be no need to utilize any sort of legalized online gambling or local casinos to raise extra revenue, as so many local governments have done recently)