Airplane Service Station

The Airplane Service Station, also known as the Powell Airplane, is a service station built in 1930 in the shape of an airplane.[2] Located at 6829 Clinton Highway in Powell, an unincorporated community in Knox County, Tennessee, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Airplane Service Station
Location6829 Clinton Hwy
Powell, Tennessee
Nearest cityKnoxville, Tennessee
Coordinates36°0′26″N 84°1′52″W
Built1930
ArchitectWayne L. Smith, Elmer F. Nickle, Henry C. Nickle
Architectural styleMimetic
NRHP reference No.04000198[1]
Added to NRHPMarch 18, 2004

The station was built by brothers Elmer and Henry Nickle. Their intent was to increase business by having a service station that was visually unique, both to area residents and to travelers on newly widened U.S. Highway 25.[3] Elmer Nickle had a strong interest in airplanes,[3] and so the station was constructed in the Mimetic architectural style in the shape of an airplane.[4]

The structure ceased being used as a service station in the 1960s, when it became a liquor store. It has also been a produce stand, bait and tackle shop, and a used car lot. Knox Heritage and a local organization, the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association (AFSPA), are working to preserve the structure.[3] It currently serves as a barbershop.[5]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "Plane-shaped gas station in Tennessee is classic 'roadside Americana'". National Trust for Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2019-03-28 – via USA Today.
  3. Powell Airplane – Early History Archived 2010-07-07 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved: 5 July 2010.
  4. "National Register of Historical Places - Asset Detail". npgallery.nps.gov. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  5. https://www.knoxnews.com/story/shopper-news/powell/2018/05/07/airplane-barbershop-revving-up-again-after-owners-forced-landing/553114002/
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