The Pasto Agricultural Museum chronicles agricultural history and development, focusing on Pennsylvania and the northeastern United States. Its vast collection includes historic items that showcase tools and technology related to agricultural and rural life.
The museum, an outreach program of Penn State’s College of Agriculture, opened during Ag Progress Days in 1979. It initially featured more than 150 items mostly from the personal collection of Jerome “Jerry” Pesto, then associate dean of the College of Agriculture. They included an 1895 foot-powered milking machine and a 1917 reaper.
Pasto, who joined the Penn State faculty in 1950, had a lifelong interest in antique farm and home equipment. When he retired in 1980, the museum was named in his honor. Pasto continued as volunteer curator until 1999.
The Pasto museum’s collection has grown to include more than 1,300 items that recount the history of agricultural development in American culture. The collection focuses on farming work and life before the introduction of the gasoline engine and rural electrification.
A new interactive exhibit focuses on the 2,200-acre Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center, including the site of Ag Progress Days. It explores the research center’s historical development and the personal histories of the farms and families that once owned its land.
The Pasto Museum is located at the Ag Progress Days site on State Route 45 west of Pine Grove Mills. During Ag Progress Days the museum offers hands-on programming aimed at children and families. The museum is open by appointment the rest of the year.
Sources:
Pasto Agricultural Museum, www.agsci.psu.edu/pasto (Accessed December 10, 2025).
“The Pasto Agriculture Museum chronicles 6,000 years of history,” Penn State News, May 7, 2019.
First Published: December 15, 2025