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DHistory
History · Powell

Powell’s post office opened in 1949, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #167 of 177 in Tennessee. What drives it

Most of Powell was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listing is the Beale Street Historic District and the Airplane Service Station. Below: maps from 1936 on.

1949first post office
1on the National Register
0.5%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Powell began

When was Powell founded?

1949

The Powell post office opened in 1949, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Powell Station (1867), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 13,80277 years

How historic is Powell?

D

More historic than 8% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Powell post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Powell’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Powell is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #167 of 177 in Tennessee. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Powell’s overall grade.
Founding era1949, from the first post office: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.5% of homes (±0.7) · typical TN town 4.9% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register1 listing, 0.7 per 10,000 residents · typical TN town 6.1 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 8%
NewerOlder
Tennessee towns of 2,500+ (177)Ahead of 6%

Tennessee towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Tennessee town has 6.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Powell’s 0.7 sits below most of its state (34% of Tennessee towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C−. The pre-1940 share (±0.7 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Powell’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Powell are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Powell, and 8 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Powell’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Powell’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Powell’s post office has been open since 1949. Another post office, Powell Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Powell Station
1867–1949
Powell
1949–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Broad AcresGlenwoodIdlewood AcresLakewoodMayview HeightsPonderosa HillsPowell HeightsSites Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Number 495localeUnion Zion Churchchurch
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Powell
Bell's CampgroundBrownLatham

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Powell came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Powell.

Read it all →

Despite its status as unincorporated, Powell is considered to be more of an "independent" small town than a suburb. One of the reasons behind this is that it was established in 1789 (two years before the establishment of Knoxville) by settlers passing through East Tennessee into the frontier. Among these early settlers was Stockley Donelson (1753–1804), a brother-in-law of President Andrew Jackson. Donelson's home, now known as the Alexander Bishop House, still stands on Bishop Lane. Another early settler was John Manifee, a Revolutionary War veteran who built a small fort and trading station along what is now Clinton Highway in the late 1780s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Powell, 1867 to 1987

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867Post officeThe Powell Station post office opens
  3. 1877Born herePercy Poe Bishop is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900BuiltBeale Street Historic District is built
  6. 1930BuiltAirplane Service Station is built
  7. 1936On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1937Born hereJohn Cooper is born here
  9. 1949Post officeThe Powell Station post office closes
  10. 1949Post officeThe Powell post office opens
  11. 1987Born hereLee Smith is born here
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Powell on the map, 1936 to 1976

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Powell. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Powell on the 1936 USGS mapPowell on the 1941 USGS mapPowell on the 1952 USGS mapPowell on the 1968 USGS mapPowell on the 1976 USGS map1936Powell Station sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Powell.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Powell

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Beale Street Historic District
Beale Street Historic District, built 1900Airplane Service Station, built 1930
BuildingsSites
Beale Street Historic DistrictBuilt 1900
Airplane Service StationBuilt 1930

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Powell

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Lee SmithAmerican football player · b. 1987
John CooperFormer American football player and coach · b. 1937
Percy Poe BishopU.S. Army general · b. 1877
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Knoxville102 historic placesA

Questions about Powell’s history

What year was Powell founded?

The Powell post office opened in 1949, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Powell rank for history?

Powell is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #167 of 177 in Tennessee. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Powell?

1 listings: 1 building and 1 site.

How old are the homes in Powell?

0.5% of Powell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.9% for a Tennessee town; the median home was built in 1992.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.