Back

On July 03, 2017

Agriculture has long been central to life in what is now Pennsylvania. The Lenape and Monongahela peoples native to the region’s Delaware and Upper Ohio Valleys grew corn, beans and squash – crops known as the Three Sisters. European colonists brought plows and horses with them to turn over large fields. Penn State’s Pasto Agricultural Museum traces the roots of agriculture in the region and its vital role in shaping the history of the state. The museum features around 1,300 farm and household items, some of which date back 6,000 years. Since its inception in 1974, the Pasto Museum’s mission has been to tell the vast story of Pennsylvania farming through exhibits that touch on all aspects of agriculture, from beekeeping to butchering to animal husbandry. The museum, which started as a small display from professor Jerome K. Pasto’s personal collection of antique farm items in the University’s Agricultural Administration Building, is now housed in a building specially designed to showcase its growing number of artifacts.