Airplane Service Station

United States historic place

Airplane Service Station

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Location| 6829 Clinton Hwy
Powell, Tennessee
Nearest city| Knoxville, Tennessee
Coordinates| 36°0′26″N 84°1′52″W﻿ / ﻿36.00722°N 84.03111°W﻿ / 36.00722; -84.03111
Built| 1930
Architect| Wayne L. Smith, Elmer F. Nickle, Henry C. Nickle
Architectural style| Mimetic
NRHP reference No.| 04000198[1]
Added to NRHP| March 18, 2004

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 on Clinton Highway in Powell, an unincorporated community in Knox County, Tennessee, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The station was built by brothers Elmer and Henry Nickle.[3] 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.[4] Elmer Nickle had a strong interest in airplanes,[4] and so the station was constructed in the Mimetic architectural style in the shape of an airplane.[5]

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, a used car lot and a barber shop.[4] Knox Heritage and a local organization, the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association (AFSPA), worked to preserve the structure.[4] The building was renovated into a short-term rental residence.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* Teapot Dome Service Station, 1922 Zillah, Washington station built in the shape of a teapot
* Shell Service Station, 1930 Winston-Salem, North Carolina station built in the shape of a scallop shell

## References

[edit]

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 March 28, 2019 - via USA Today.
3. ^ a b Johnson, Octavia (July 26, 2023). "Historic plane-shape building in Powell to transform into Airbnb". WATE 6. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
4. ^ a b c d Blackerby, Mike (May 7, 2018). "Iconic 'Airplane Filling Station' open again as barbershop". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
5. ^ "National Register of Historical Places - Asset Detail". npgallery.nps.gov. Retrieved September 6, 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Roadside America
* National Register of Historic Places
* Image gallery
* Airplane Service Station, c. 1931 -- McClung Digital Collection

*[No.]: number