The Accommodation Line Scenic Byway traces a portion of the original route used by the Accommodation Line Stagecoach which operated in the area in the 1820s and 1830s.  The byway is a 10.4-mile route beginning at SR 73 and Main Street at the south edge of Waynesville.  It then follows Main Street through the Village of Waynesville, returning to US 42 and continuing north to Spring Valley Road in Warren and Green Counties.   In the early 1800's a portion of U.S. 42 operated as the Accommodation Line Stagecoach route, hence the name of the byway, both villages were founded by Quakers.  Samuel Heighway founded Waynesville in 1797 and thought his town would become the capital of the Northwest Territory. After arriving at what is now the present site of Waynesville, the settlers dug in with primitive log shelters before log cabins were built facing the river. Heighway's initial layout of the village was on a rectangle plan.  Formal parks and squares were arranged around a central public square.

Hammell House - Built in 1822, the building was remodeled in 1857 and 1872, and a new addition was built in 1987. Nathaniel McLean, brother of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John McLean, was the innkeeper from 1838 to 1841, and he sold the inn to Enoch Hammell. Hammell added a third floor ballroom to the brick section in 1844. William O. and Ollie Casey Gustin bought the Hammell House in 1901, and renamed it the Hotel Gustin. It later became a boarding house and then an apartment building. It was restored as an inn and bed and breakfast in 1987. **

John Satterthwaite, a member of the Miami Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, built this building on Main Street in Waynesville in 1820. It served as the office of the weekly Miami-Gazette newspaper and later became the Braden & Sons Sweet Shoppe. Satterthwaite (1786-1837) was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He immigrated to Ohio around 1802 and settled near Waynesville, Ohio. He was active in the milling business at what is now Mt. Holly, Ohio, a town he helped found. Satterthwaite was half owner of the Accommodation Stagecoach Line that ran from Springfield through Waynesville to Cincinnati for many years.

Mary Leah Cook

This photograph was taken on the occasion of Mary Leah Cook's high school graduation. Cook graduated in 1887 and was the valedictorian of the first graduating class of the Harveysburg, Ohio public schools. Cook (1869-1964) was born to Seth and Hannah Cook, Quakers who lived near Mt. Holly in Warren County. While working as a secretary, she enrolled in an evening medical school and graduated after four years.  She eventually saved enough money to study one year at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at the University of Illinois. She graduated in 1908, and in the fall she returned to Waynesville, Ohio and opened her office, located in the Waynesville National Bank building on the northwest corner of Main and North streets. She practiced medicine in Waynesville for more than 52 years. In 1958, at the age of 88, Cook ranked as one of the oldest women practitioners in the United States.

Cook was instrumental in the founding of the public library in Waynesville. In early 1917, she gathered together interested citizens and established a library association. The state granted a charter on Ohio May 1, 1917. In 1924 the Library Association Board assumed the responsibilities of a school district public library. Cook was appointed the first president of the board of trustees, a position she held until 1960.  Visit the Mary L. Cook Public Library at:  http://www.mlcook.lib.oh.us/    **A special recognition is noted to the Mary L. Cook Public Library of Waynesville for providing all of the historic photos displayed above. 

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