According to local historians, the building opened as Waynesville’s first firehouse in 1881 and, a few years later, served as its one-cell jail on what was then Tyler Street. The building is located at what is now 260 Chapman St. and is known as “The Lockup.” It housed a steam engine fire truck known as “Old Faithful” in 1886. That truck, pulled by two horses, replaced the citizens’ bucket brigade that had been in place since the village was founded in 1797.

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Waynesville had acquired a movable iron cage in 1871, but in 1886, the village borrowed $400 for a jail cell to replace it, according to an article written by Karen Campbell, who was a genealogy librarian at the Mary L. Cook Library in Waynesville. The village built an addition to the “Lockup” building to house the jail cell. The cage occupied one room, while the other room in the building was conveniently fitted out for the Mayor's court, council room, and whatever else they desired. Iron gratings were put on the outside of each window.

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The building was used as a police station and a firehouse until 1952, when a new firehouse was built at 165 Miami St. Since then, it has been used for storage for the township and village, housing vehicles and equipment, a museum, an antique shop, and many other various uses. The Lockup was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

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The "Lock Up" building today serves as an interpretive center for the Accommodation Line Scenic Byway, a 10.4-mile route running from Spring Valley to Waynesville, part of the historic Accommodation Stagecoach Line.