Airplane Filling Station

Fun Friday – Airplane Filling Station Powell, TN

We need some entertainment after seeing tons of dropped ceilings and peeling laminate floors, so Old Houses Under Under $50k introduced Fun Friday. It is a collection of weird  structures, NOT for sale, simply of interest.  Today we visit the Airplane Filling Station in Powell, Tennessee.

 

 

Built in 1930 as a gas station owned and operated by brothers Elmer and Henry Nickle, the old Airplane Filling Station served motorists along the old Dixie Highway until the 1960s.

 

After the pumps went dry, the replica-airplane was home to a liquor store and used-car lot before neglect left it in disrepair. It was saved from demolition by preservationist groups and was eventually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

The 53-foot structure lay vacant until the Airplane Filling Station Preservation Association helped to restore it, having the wings shored up and a nine-foot propeller made.

 

In 2016, John York leased the building as John’s Barber Shop.

Barber poles mark the entrance.

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The interior has a Coca-Cola themed waiting area.

 

And one barber shop chair.

Guard rails were installed to protect the shop from traffic. Good thing, too, because in 2017 it helped save the airplane from a drunk driver who crashed into the guard rail.

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