The town of Vienna, the county seat of Maries County, was laid out in 1855 on a 70-acre parcel of land between the Gasconade and Osage rivers.
A historical point of interest in Vienna is the Old Jail Museum. The gable-roofed limestone jail was built in 1858 at a cost of $2,500, and was converted into a museum nearly 100 years later. Its old limestone walls hold an eerie silence heavy with the sounds of iron cell doors closing and echoes of voices from years gone by. The walls of the dungeon-like jail cells are covered with poignant carvings and messages from prisoners who were kept there over a period of 85 years. The museum contains many artifacts collected from around Maries County, including Civil War memorabilia, dishes and documents, and 10,000-year-old bones of mastodons and other creatures that once roamed the area.
The Old Jail Museum is open on Sunday afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m., from Memorial Day through June. It is closed in July and August, then is open again from Labor Day through the end of October on Sunday afternoons from 2 to 4 p.m. Behind the Old Jail are two original buildings from the early days of Vienna, which serve as museums of pioneer relics. The Felker Log House was built in 1855 by John Felker, an immigrant from Hannover, Germany, who was one of the pioneer settlers in the area. Its old log walls tell stories of a cattle drive to California and early saloon in the new town of Vienna. The Latham Log House was built in 1885, and is one of the oldest surviving structures in Vienna. This log building has served as a home, a polling place, an ice house and a barn. It is faithfully restored as it appeared in the mid 1800's. Also on the property is the Maries County Museum, a converted county road shed that contains old tools and other displays, including historic fixtures from the Maries County Bank and the old Vichy Post Office, set up as they used to be when they were still in service. This museum has the same opening hours as the Old Jail museum.
The cache is a camouflaged pill bottle. You can park within about 20 feet, but I usually park around the side of the jail. It might take some careful searching to find it, but you do NOT have to search through the prickly pear cactus! This cache has been placed with permission from the Maries County Historical Society.