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. Located at 6829 Clinton Highway in Powell, a neighborhood in Knox County, Tennessee, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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. [] Elmer Nickle had a strong interest in airplanes, and so the station was constructed in the Fantastic architectural style in the shape of an airplane.

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 & tackle shop, and a used car lot. It is believed to be the only service station constructed with an airplane as its design concept. []{ Knox Heritage and a local organization, the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association (AFSPA), are working to preserve the structure.

Paris, Tennessee

There was a second, unrelated airplane-shaped service station built in 1933 in Paris, Tennessee. It was located at the intersection of Mineral Wells Avenue and Memorial Drive. Unlike the Powell station, only the roof was constructed in an airplane shape.

See also

  • Teapot Dome Service Station, 1922 station built in the shape of a teapot
  • Shell Service Station, 1930 station built in the shape of a scallop shell

External links

Post a comment
Tips & Hints
Arrange By:
There are no tips nor hints for Airplane Service Station yet. Maybe be you will be the first one to post useful information for fellow travellers? :)
4.9/10
316 people have been here
Map
6829 Clinton Hwy, Knoxville, TN 37921, USA Get directions
Tue-Wed 7:00 AM–10:00 AM
Thu 7:00 AM–9:00 AM
Fri 7:00 AM–11:00 AM
Sat 8:00 AM–9:00 PM
Sun 8:00 AM–10:00 AM

Airplane Gas Station on Foursquare

Airplane Service Station on Facebook

Other languages

Hotels nearby

See all hotels See all
Baymont by Wyndham Knoxville I-75

starting $62

Holiday Inn Knoxville N - Merchant Drive

starting $110

Express Inn Knoxville

starting $47

Super 8 By Wyndham Knoxville North/Powell

starting $82

Motel 6 Knoxville North

starting $43

Super 8 By Wyndham Knoxville Downtown Area

starting $46

Recommended sights nearby

See all See all
Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Ozone Falls

Ozone Falls is a waterfall located in Cumberland County, Tennessee in

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Minister’s Tree House

Minister’s Tree House is a 10-floor wooden self-made house near C

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Cumberland Falls

Cumberland Falls, sometimes called the Little Niagara, the Niagara of

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Eagle Falls

Eagle Falls is located in Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Gooch Creek Arch

Gooch Creek Arch is a natural sandstone arch in Rhea County,

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Burra Burra Mine (Tennessee)

The Burra Burra Mine is a copper mine located in Ducktown, Tennessee,

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Waterfall on West Prong Hickey Fork

|height_longest=30 ft (9.1 m)

Similar tourist attractions

See all See all
Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Blue Whale of Catoosa

The Blue Whale of Catoosa is a waterfront structure, located just east

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Forestiere Underground Gardens

Forestiere Underground Gardens Located at 5021 West Shaw Avenue in

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
House on the Rock

The House on the Rock, originally opened in 1959, is a complex of

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
World's Largest Dinosaur

The 'World's Largest Dinosaur' is the name of a model Tyrannosaurus

Add to wishlist
I've been here
Visited
Golden Driller

The Golden Driller is a 76-foot tall (23 meter), 43,500 pound statue

See all similar places