The village of New Vienna suffered a disastrous fire in 1908 that involved a number of buildings on South Street, which were soon rebuilt. Later, a fire destroyed the commercial and residential area on Main Street and in 1925, the town’s opera house was destroyed by fire. In the 1930s the picturesque residence and office owned by Dr. George Conard, located on the lot which is now the town park was dismantled. A city building was built in 1940 to house the town offices, fire department and a movie house, at a cost of $30,000, with 60% being contributed by the Federal Government under the PublicWorks Administration (P.W.A.)(223)

Tragedy struck once again on July 25, 2002 when a bolt of lightening hit the steeple of the New Vienna United Methodist Church, waking residents at 5:30 a.m.  The building was completely destroyed by the resulting fire.  Coincidently, a barbeque and car show was scheduled for that day to benefit the local Christian school. The barbeque went on as planned a few weeks later, and the resulting proceeds were donated to the school as promised.  Fund raising then began for the new facility now located on SR 28 west of town.