September 29, 2020

Towns with the Name Vienna

By roads-rus

There are 8 towns of consequence named Vienna in the United States and 8 others so small as to barely be visible in places like Texas and Michigan. Most of the towns named Vienna were named after the capital of Austria, a city of almost 2 million people. There are also places named Vienna in unlikely spots like Vanuatu and Italy.

Most Viennas are not like the original. The Vienna in Missouri is a minuscule town about 22 miles north of Rolla. It was definitely named after the city in Austria. Rolla is about 100 miles west of St. Louis, and many St. Louisans have attended its School of Mines, a division of this state’s public institutions. Rolla is almost a city. The Vienna in Illinois is almost 3 times larger than the one in Missouri and the half way point on the infamous Trail of Tears. It’s in the southern part of a state not especially known for forests, but Vienna is not too far from Metropolis, IL and on the edge of a vast forest area. For years Metropolis has capitalized on its name and fostered a Superman connection. Vienna, GA is described as a Graceful Southern Lady due east of Americus, the home of ex-President Jimmy Carter. It’s large enough to be the home of the Georgia State Cotton Museum that can be seen by appointment. North Carolina’s Vienna is in the Winston-Salem area.

The 2 largest US Viennas are in Virginia and West Virginia. Vienna, VA is in the Washington, DC area, has a population of nearly 16,000, and has been highly rated on Money Magazine’s list of the best 100 places to live. It’s near both Tysons Corner Shopping Center and Wolf Trap, the famous entertainment venue. The West Virginia Vienna is across the Ohio River from Ohio and has become part of the Parkersburg area.

Two of the more interesting Viennas are in New Jersey and Maine. New Jersey doesn’t have much open land, but its Vienna is in the north central part of the state and fairly rural. It’s near Hackettstown, another unknown town to me. Vienna, ME is in Kennebec County near mountains and also rural.

Hank

About roads-rus

Since the beginning, I've had to avoid writing about the downside of travel in order to sell more than 100 articles. Just because something negative happened doesn't mean your trip was ruined. But tell that to publishers who are into 5-star cruise and tropical beach fantasies. I want to tell what happened on my way to the beach, and it may not have been all that pleasant. My number one rule of the road is...today's disaster is tomorrow's great story. My travel experiences have appeared in about twenty magazines and newspapers. I've been in all 50 states more than once and more than 50 countries. Ruth and I love to travel internationally--Japan, Canada, China, Argentina, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, etc. Within the next 2 years we will have visited all of the European countries. But our favorite destination is Australia. Ruth and I have been there 9 times. I've written a book about Australia's Outback, ALONE NEAR ALICE, which is available through both Amazon & Barnes & Noble. My first fictional work, MOVING FORWARD, GETTING NOWHERE, has recently been posted on Amazon. It's a contemporary, hopefully funny re-telling of The Odyssey. View all posts by roads-rus
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2020 at 10:50 pm and posted in Town Names. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

Comments are disabled.

%d bloggers like this: