Apple and cherry orchards were well established by 1920s. As returning World War I veterans developed farms on the flat lands to the south, grain harvests increased. Grain elevators were built in Creston by the Midland Pacific Grain Corporation in 1935 and the Alberta Wheat Pool in 1936 and 1949. Rebuilt dyking of a few years earlier succumbed to floods in 1938 and 1948. The first annual Blossom Festival was held in 1942. In 2018, the Columbia Basin Trust acquired the two remaining abandoned elevators (1935 and 1936) with a view to restoration. Lumber Small sawmills were established in 1898 and around 1903. In 1907, C.O. Rodgers erected a mill at the mouth of the Goat River gorge. In partnership with D.W. Briggs, he reorganized as the Canyon City Lumber Co. in 1911. After a 1923 fire destroyed the mill, the rebuild, known as Creston Sawmills, opened in 1924. The specialized Rodgers Box Factory catered to the fruit and berry trade. The sawmill closed in 1981 and the buildings torn down. The veneer and planer mills, which closed a decade later, were also demolished. Road/air transportation By 1909, the highway to Cranbrook was rated as good. By 1910, a passable trail existed east to Lethbridge, which by 1912 was a main road. After realignments, a proper gravel highway opened in 1920. In 1932, the route became the No. 3, Interprovincial Highway, remaining for years the main road connection between the two western provinces. Southward, a wagon road existed by the 1890s, which was periodically upgraded over the following decades. In 1931, the ferry/highway auto route north to Nelson was inaugurated. When Canyon St. was widened in 1947 for the new Crowsnest Highway, the frontage buildings moved back. The October 1963 opening of the Salmo–Creston highway rerouted most traffic from the ferry route. Creston is served by the Creston Valley Airport formerly known as the Art Sutcliffe Field. In 2017, the pilot of a small plane safely made an emergency landing on Highway 3 west of Creston. Prior to Greyhound Canada ceasing all intraprovincial services in 2018, an application the prior year included a service reduction via Creston. The summer bus service between Kaslo and Calgary, instituted by a regional operator in 2019, included a Creston stop. In 2021, the Creston Valley Transit System replaced its fleet of diesel-powered buses with four light-duty, gasoline-driven buses. Communications and utilities In 1907, the