Pasto can accommodate organized group visits and school field trips.

The Pasto Museum hosts almost 10,000 visitors per year, including field trips to enrich students' understanding of agriculture, science and history. We explore where our food comes from and the inventions and technology that have made food production on a large scale possible. The museum exhibits and programs connect the history and science of our agricultural past to the present day.

The Pasto Museum connects the history and science of our agricultural past with the present day through exhibits, programs and demonstrations. The museum collection focuses on what life was like and how work was done before gasoline engines and rural electrification, before the 1940s. Based on issues around food, feed, fuel, and fiber of the times, major thematic exhibits include:

  1. Kitchen, Hearth and Food Preservation
  2. Butchering, Dairy, and Poultry
  3. Small Grains and Hay Making
  4. The Soil — Plowing and Tillage

Many aspects of the museum collection illustrate the sustainability issues faced by farming communities during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and with programming that connects them to sustainability issues of today.

Group Tours

Tours for groups of 10 or more can be requested throughout the year by completing the registration form or calling the museum office at 814-863-1383 or by email at .

  • Group tours are scheduled between March and December. Preferred days of the week are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Other days may be available by arrangement.
  • We welcome groups of all ages; the museum is wheelchair accessible; amenities include rest-rooms, water fountains, and picnic pavilions (for brown bag lunches).
  • Completion of the registration form and receipt at the museum office is required before a tour date is finalized and confirmed by the museum office.

The Museum connects our agricultural past to the present day with hands-on activities, exhibits, and special programs:

  • Agriculture: It's not just "Farming" — it's Food, Feed, Fuel, Fiber, Fertilizer and more!
  • Seed to table — Where does our food come from?
  • Pennsylvania history — rural life from Colonial times through the 1840s and into the 1930s
  • Agricultural Invention & Technology Timeline and Simple Machines
  • Oregon Trail — Packing the Wagons before you head West
  • Communication Stations — Check your cell phone at the door, we're connecting the old fashioned way
  • Customized tours for middle school and high school groups can be arranged with teachers to include tours of research farm and on-campus visits
  • Scout groups, club visits, and 4H visits tailored to each group's needs

Other sites and coordinating your visit

We are happy to connect you with our Penn State museums and partners that can enrich your visit. Consider spending a full day at our site that might include a Woodlot tour with Forestry Educators, Pollinator Programming with Master Gardeners at the Demonstration Garden, or a tour of the Research Farm. On campus, less than 20 minutes away, you might visit other collections and museums, the arboretum, and astronomy lab—and stop in for ice cream at the Berkey Creamery.

Busing Fund

We are proud to support the K-12 community in Central Pennsylvania by providing reimbursement for bus transportation costs on a first-come, first-served basis. Financial support for offsetting transportation costs is made possible by the support of The Friends of the Pasto Agricultural Museum. Contact the curator at 814-863-1383 or rsg7@psu.edu for details and to schedule your visit.

Teacher Workshops

Center for Science and the Classroom — The Pasto Agricultural Museum has partnered with CSATS to provide professional development for teachers and educators.

Ag in the Classroom Workshop — The Ag in the Classroom workshop offers a learning experience for teachers (K-12) to visit agricultural venues and experience how food moves from seed to feed—from farm to market—from earth to table. Made possible by the PA Friends of Ag Foundation.

Pasto Agricultural Museum

Address

Museum Address:
2710 West Pine Grove Road, Gate K

Pennsylvania Furnace, PA 16865
Directions