Both railways had a terminus on Kootenay Lake, where steamboats would meet the trains to take passengers and freight to Nelson, Kaslo, and other points along the lake. The railways and steamboats of this era provided the necessary transportation within the Creston Valley.

The first decade of the twentieth century saw Creston becoming a town in its own right. A sawmill had been established some years before, but, in the early years of the century, C.O. Rodgers took over the mill, and expanded. Forestry industries became a mainstay of the Creston Valley.

At this time, as well, agriculture was coming into its own. The first apple orchards, using trees imported from Ontario, were planted in 1901. Agriculture had grown to such a degree that a fall fair could be held in 1908. The first strawberry co-operative in the valley was established in Wynndel about 1912, by O.J. Wigen.

On August 8, 1908, the first issue of the Creston Review, the valley's first newspaper, was printed. At the time, it cost five cents to buy a single copy and two dollars for a year-long subscription.

The Board of Trade was established in 1908. Within a few years, three churches, a bank, and a new two-room school were built to accommodate the influx of miners, farmers, and loggers into the valley.