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 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. 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. [Route 25 in Tennessee|U.S. Highway 25]. Elmer Nickle had a strong interest in airplanes, and so the station was constructed in the Mimetic 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 and tackle shop, a used car lot and a barber shop. Knox Heritage and a local organization, the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association, worked to preserve the structure. The building was renovated into a short-term rental residence.