Probably unlikely.
You don’t want to enclose electrical substations, because:
When they do have to cosmetically cover electrical substations, the modern solution is open to air circulation and has minimal fire risk. Here’s a nearby example. The outside mesh sheathing is lit up at night by color-changing lights.
After reading the responses, I’ll provide some additional details. The buildings are tall, easily two stories tall. There are also 3 of them in a small area, but spaced far enough apart where using them as some sort of highway storage would not make sense. Pump houses for sewerage does not make sense because of their distance from suburban areas, this is an area where everyone is on wells and septic tanks. There is a lot of farmland in the area, so maybe pump houses for irrigation? But then why have them so tall?
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Any another update:
Reading some responses referencing tobacco barns, I did some quick googling, and found that tobacco barns are not uncommon in this county. For the record, location in Bryan county, GA, on the northern edge of the town of Pembroke.
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Toronto didn’t worry about all that…
Toronto Hydro’s not-so-hidden residential substations
Power Houses: Toronto Hydro’s Camouflaged Substations
Pretty cool looking.
And there’s a pretty darned good echo in those houses, or so I hear
Bolding mine
WHOA …
Are you sure … that’s 25 feet including the roof rake … at that scale them trees would be 4 foot in diameter. Now if the utility pole in the one picture is typical size, then that building is only one story tall, about 15 feet.
For electrical, plumbing, storage or tobacco … it would make more sense to build just one building, cheaper that way. With three scattered about, we need something that is very site specific, like wells. They could be for local irrigation but also for municipal water supply, perhaps even back-up water source.
Go ahead and break in … look around inside and tell us what you see …
Although a couple posters have commented on the lack of doors, there are what are quite obviously man doors in each picture. There is also lane and a collection of culverts in the second picture suggesting something to do with highways of storm water management. I do not see electrical masts on either building, and a utility pole near one (and the not urban location) would suggest that power from buried utility is unlikely. Pump stations require power.
The tall and narrow shape of the buildings does not makes sense for storage. I would say pipeline utility sheds, but I do not see any pipeline signs, or fence. Lots of such things around oil country here, but usually fenced off with buried line location liberally marked with signs.
Outhouses?
I haven’t seen a fake house for hiding utilities for a long time but it used to be common enough in residential areas. Now I just see big metal boxes on them which apparently are magnetized because cars keep running right into them.
I agree, wells or something similar is likely but you would think power o the sheds would be more obvious.
Some of those trees are indeed pretty big. The ones behind the utility pole are at least 10’ past it yet are already 3 - 4 times the angular dimension in the photo. The culverts are most likely the common 3’ size, which corresponds nicely to what looks just like a man door. Shed looks 20-25 ’ tall to me.
Nice catch, I don’t see the electrical weatherhead OR any underground conduit OR an electric meter … very curious.
I’m looking at the battens on the building’s siding … almost universally these are spaced two feet apart … if they are four feet, then the vent would be 4’x4’ (very unusual) and … eh em … four foot diameter tree trunks in Georgia? I’d expect the trunks to be better buttressed that what I’m seeing.
Well I know absolutely nothing about trees in Georgia, to this Albertan it is a wet hot land that could have magically huge trees with terrifyingly hard wood. That being said we have a species of Doug Fir locally that grows many feet in diameter in arid Alberta, and right in town here there are lots of old poplars in the 3’ diameter range, the spruce in my back yard are over 2’. The trees in the picture look like a large needle pine, but hard to tell.
I was looking at the vent too and you are right it would have to be much bigger than a typical gable vent. Exterior paneling in 4’ widths is not out of the ordinary though.
God I should be getting work done rather than nerding on some sheds in Georgia.
Have you tried looking up that property on your county Tax Assessor website? It might show a description/purpose in addition to owner and tax info.
Right … Douglas Fir … 4 foot diameter is just a baby … we have them up to and over ten foot here … and just south is Redwood country. The siding panels would 4’ wide, for sure, but the battens are just decorative.
I think the OP just needs fifteen minute with an axe and we’ll all find out what they are.
These are in Georgia? They are disguised secret entrances to underground Obama FEMA camps, of course.
No idea about the buildings unless they are Forestry Service related, but those are Loblolly pines and are commonly 4’ or more in diameter:
I have several in my yard that exceed 100’ tall and are about 4.5’ in diameter.
Those examples were built generations ago – up to 90 years old. I’d be surprised if they were doing it that way now. Whish is why I said “the modern solution…”.
I apologize for nitpicking, which is an annoyance at best. I had remembered seeing these places before and they were too cool to let slip by.
They have similar camouflage for the ventilation shafts of the various tunnels going in and out of Manhattan, some mundane and some fancy, depending on the neighborhood. Probably also constructed years ago.
Cite(s), please!
(Not because I disbelieve you – I just think it’d be neat to see pictures of some of these.)