I’ve noticed two concrete silos along the PA turnpike that don’t seem to be for storing grain. One is one the NE extension maybe 10-15 miles north of the east-west section. Its on the east side of the road 100’ +/- into the woods. The other is on the east-west section near Downingtown. Its on the south side of the road. Both seem to be narrower than a standard silo and lack the external “piping” normally seen. Neither is in the immediate vicinity of a barn. The one has metal electrical/equipment boxes outside. The other, I’m not sure. I’m guessing that they house some sort of communications equipment/antenna but why hide it behind concrete? There are cell towers very nearby to one so i assume they are not hiding them. Any guesses? Sorry I can’t provide more accurate locations. I never write down the mile markers when I see them.
Could they be for road sand/salt? We have storage domes for that stuff here.
Microwave Towers?
http://long-lines.net/places-routes/1st_transcon_mw/LL0949/02.html
There are no visible antennas, just a silver dome top.
Can you give us a Google maplink?
Here are the Google Earth lat/lon for one. Street View has a good image. There is a building next to it but it is not a barn, more like a storage building. There is some farming in the area but a quick look around Google Earth didn’t show any other silos.
40°05’03.98" N 75°42’58.54" W
It is a storage silo IMO.
Zoom in & you can see the product transfer conveyor device going from the silo to the building.
Might be something like a corn sacking place or just a protected working space for the winter…
I guess it’s just a simple farm silo . . . but that is*** tall.*** At least 100 feet. I’ve never seen that before. I wonder if there was some Pennsylvania concrete contractor who promoted the idea of one really tall concrete silo instead of two short metal ones.
According to AntennaSearch.com, that tall silo is a cell phone tower owned by Wireless Tower Group, LLC. The structure appears to be made of fiberglass to look like a silo. The ‘barn’ next to the silo holds the electrical equipment. Note the high quality security camera above the wooden doors, good quality roof, and electrical service box outside. The overhead picture shows a clean fence with no connection to the farm beside it.
By going to that website, search Milford Rd, Downingtown, PA it shows a map of that very spot. Remember, many areas are banning cell towers that look like cell towers. Fake trees, extra thick flagpoles, and now silos are all fair game.
Great find, I learned a thing or three.
Well done 2gigch1. I would never have guessed that silo was fiberglass but I knew it wasn’t a grain silo.
Is this one before or after Lansdale exit? About how far?
I don’t remember. I think its north but I can’t find it for sure on Google Earth. Its hidden trees. In any case, its very similar to the Downingtown one.
I’ve also read about cell towers being camouflaged when the situation seemed appropriate. Where these are, I don’t quite understand the need. In Gainesville Fl., on 23rd av., west of 43rd st., there is a church with a big ‘wooden’ tower behind it, topped by a large cross. It certainly is a ‘tower’. A friend who owned 5 acres nearby offered his property for the tower if they would allow him to use the area underneath and they turned him down. he figured his property worth more for the acre they wanted than they were willing to pay for the lease.
How many other ‘towers’ can people spot? I mean electronic towers that don’t look like electronic towers. ??
Just google “disguised cell phone towers”. Church steeples, clock towers, water tanks, trees including palm trees, cactuses, flagpoles, and, yeah, silos. Even advertising signs, which arguably look worse than the cell tower.
Here’s a company that does it:
The Silo by the Downingtown PA turnpike interchange is a disguised T-Mobile cell tower.
They wanted a plain old 150’ steel monopole, the Township wanted something that would better “blend-in” with the surrounding landscape.
It’s doing it’s job if you just noticed it, because it’s been sitting up there for probably 10 years now.
You won’t find any more details about it on sites like AntennaSearch, because sites under 200’ tall don’t have to be registered with the FCC.
It’s in Upper Uwchlan, Chester County, you could contact the township, and they will probably let you buy a copy of the architectural drawings for a fee, if you want to see the site layout, and what it looks like inside.