Penngrove Power & Implement Museum

We visited on a Power Up Saturday! Having no idea what to expect, we were blown away by this museum! Motors, engines, and more — and everything functions. You can see a huge generator from a lumberyard, tractors, a great collection of small trains — and one that goes around the property! A lot of love and work has gone into this museum. We will return!

If you love very old engines you will love this place! Old obscure tractors, big driver engines that fill up small (and large!) rooms that are started by strong men and compressed air — even a collection of outboard motors for small boats… and a couple of early gas powered cross cut saws. Did I forget anything? Yes — a small train from the near-​by salt flats that runs around the museum.
Docent Nancy tells a story for each piece of equipment that is educational and interesting. What does it do? How to start it? Where did you get it? If you visit this museum, you will walk away a different person. I had no idea such huge engines existed — or how they worked. The feel of large cold metal parts on the hands, the smell of oil, grease, diesel and metal made me know I was somewhere special.
This place is funded by donations and individual support of guys who enjoy restoring old engines. This is a good place to learn, contribute and preserve something special from the past.

I love donating my time and volunteering and the Penngrove Power and Implement Museum. Nancy and Steve have done a wonderful job in building Sonoma County’s best kept secret. The Penngrove Power and Implement Museum showcases the first technology that powered America. As a computer and web engineer, this is a place I can truly appreciate because it is the very reason that Technology has advanced to where it is today. Check out their website —
. They are having a big event on the 2^nd Saturday in July and every July there after. At this event they «Power Up» all the exhibits! Something you truly have to see to appreciate.

This place is a true gem. This is the type of place that can only be found in an out of the way little town in the middle of nowhere… and lucky for us, we have just such a back-​woods hamlet in our beloved Penngrove.
This «museum» has just about every type of motor/​engine you can think of but unlike a good number of museums, most of the exhibits at this one are still in working order. From old tractors to working vintage printing presses to one of the actual engines from Howard Hughes’ famous Spruce Goose. And get this… there is a mini train (but big enough to ride on) that runs around the property!!!
They usually have one or two days a year that they are open to the public so keep your ear to the railroad tracks because you won’t want to miss it. Usually there is an open house during the summer sometime.
Along with the Petaluma Military Museum (300 Petaluma Blvd N) this is one of my favorite places to spend an afternoon soaking up some of the marvels from our country’s industrial past.