Knoxville in Knox County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Airplane Filling Station

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 8, 2018

1. Airplane Filling Station Marker

Inscription. In 1931 to tap the market newly created by the evolution of transportation and mobility of Americans, brothers Henry and Elmer Nickle of Powell, Tennessee, opened a gasoline filling station in the unusual shape of an airplane. The airplane is one of Tennessee's finest examples of mimetic design, a novelty type architecture, which takes the form of buildings that resemble the product sold there or some other novel design to attract drive-by customers. The Airplane Filling Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Erected 2018 by Tennessee Historical Commission. (Marker Number 1E 131.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Architecture • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Historical Commission series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1931.

Location. Marker has been reported missing. It was located near 36° 0.449′ N, 84° 1.872′ W. Marker was in Knoxville, Tennessee, in Knox County. It was on Clinton Highway, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker was at or near

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this postal address: 6829 Clinton Hwy, Knoxville TN 37921, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker was in East Tennessee.

It was also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it was in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it found itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this location, measured as the crow flies: Menifee Station (approx. 1.4 miles away); a different marker also named Menifee Station (approx. 1.4 miles away); UT RecSports Complex (approx. 5.1 miles away); Medal of Honor Recipients (approx. 5.1 miles away); Sutherland Avenue McGhee Tyson Airport (approx. 5.2 miles away); In Grateful Memory to the Defenders of Cavett Blockhouse (approx. 5.3 miles away); The Everly Brothers (approx. 5.3 miles away); Herbert H. Hoover (approx. 5.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 8, 2018

2. Airplane Filling Station Marker

of all markers in Knoxville.

Also see . . . Airplane Filling Station. (Submitted on September 9, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee.)

Airplane Filling Station image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 8, 2018

3. Airplane Filling Station

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 8, 2018

4. Airplane Filling Station

Photographed by Tom Bosse, September 8, 2018

5. Airplane Filling Station

Photographed by Tom Bosse, July 18, 2025

6. Airplane Filling Station Marker

Marker missing as of 7-18-25.

Credits. This page was last revised on July 25, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 9, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 667 times since then and 50 times this year. Last updated on July 19, 2025, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 9, 2018, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. 6. submitted on July 19, 2025, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.