Town of Warrenton

Town of Warrenton Municipal Water Report Info

History of the Town Original Settlement
The first Fairfax County Courthouse, constructed near present-day Tysons Corner, likely marked the earliest European settlement in the Vienna region. Street names such as Old Courthouse Road and Lawyers Road still reflect these origins.

First Residence
Colonel Charles Broadwater, a prominent colonial officer and civic leader, was perhaps the first settler within the present town boundaries. He owned much of the regional land and built his home here in 1754. During the 1760s, John Hunter from Ayr County, Scotland, married Colonel Broadwater's daughter. Through marriage and purchases, he became the area's primary landowner. Hunter built a house in the developing town in 1767, naming it Ayr Hill after his homeland. As growth continued, the settlement adopted this name for nearly a century.

Name Change
Harsh weather in northern states and favorable conditions in northern Virginia brought significant migration to Ayr Hill between the 1840s and 1860s. The Hendrick family arrived in 1854 and advocated renaming the town Vienna, after their hometown in upstate New York. The change was readily accepted, likely due to the family's substantial landholdings and local influence. Interestingly, their original hometown of Vienna, New York changed its name to Phelps in 1855.

Railroad Development
Before railroad arrival, Vienna had one main thoroughfare, the winding Old Georgetown Road. The railroad reached Vienna in 1859, spurring growth into a proper town. Known then as the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire, it originated in Alexandria and aimed to extend to Hampshire County's coal fields, but natural obstacles and the Civil War prevented this plan's completion.