Named after the town of the same name in Iowa, Creston was first settled by the Ktunaxa (Kootenai First Nations) people who lived here for over 11,000 years. Exploration of this area began in 1808 when David Thompson, passed through here from Creston on his way down the Columbia River. Afterward when gold was rumored to be found on Wild Horse Creek, near Fort Steele in the mid-1860s, Creston soon became home to many miners, homesteaders and settlers. The first settler arrived in the-1880s, and soon afterward 2 railways (Canadian Pacific Railway and the Great Northern Railway), were built. The railways were built to provide better access to several mines in the Kootenay region especially those of around the Nelson and Kaslo areas. At the beginning of the 20th century, Creston soon became an important distribution center for the surrounding valley and because mining wasn’t an important economic commodity here, the town relied heavily on agriculture and forestry in its early days. Beer brewing, food processing, and tourism are now important supporters for the economy for Creston. In addition, Creston is home to the largest and most important grain elevators, south of the Peace River. In order to avoid a longer route to Nelson, the Crowsnest Highway (Highway #3) known to most people here as the Salmo-Creston Highway or as the Kootenay Pass Skyway, was constructed in the 1960s, where Creston is the eastern terminus. As a result, Creston became a town in 1966 after being a village before that since 1924.
Creston is also known for having the most concentration of breeding ospreys in Canada and the significant colonies of terns and is home to a massive 17,000 acre wildlife area for several species of waterfowl, bird, reptile and fish as well as some types of plants.
The climate here is classified as continental, which is characterized by air masses which originate from the Pacific Ocean coast. Sometimes although very rare, temperatures in Creston can range around -20 to the -30 range and despite the fact that Creston does have cold winter days, an early spring (usually around late March to mid-April) is likely to occur. On summer days the thermometer may reach up to +30 degrees on some days and the first frost is usually not expected to happen until around the first days of fall.
Due to its location near the Canada/United States border, most of the businesses established in Creston accept American currency and in a similar contrast, Porthill an Idaho town just south of the border, accepts Canadian currency and items such as gasoline are sold by the litre. Unlike other communities in southeastern British Columbia that are in the Mountain Time Zone such as Cranbrook, Fernie, and Sparwood, and like Yahk 44 kilometers east of here, Creston does observe Daylight Savings Time which during the summer months, Creston possesses the same time as Vancouver and during the winter months, the same time as Calgary.
Creston’s population: 4,816
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