Fertile soil and plentiful irrigation water allowed the area around Crowley to thrive agriculturally for forty years beginning in 1919, with orchards, vegetable farms, an alfalfa mill, and a tomato canning factory. Melons were the leading crop and were stored on ice in three sheds along the railroad before shipment. In 1924, the Missouri Pacific Railroad shipped 1,032 railcars of agricultural products, including 407 railcars of beets, 247 of cantaloupes, 152 of alfalfa meal, 72 of alfalfa hay, 32 of cattle, and 23 of hogs. O.P. Adkinson's Market served as the community's center, selling goods from shoes to horse harness, while many customers used charge accounts and farmers paid their grocery bills once a year after their crops were sold. Hopeful settlers from Japan and Mexico came to Crowley County to work for the National Sugar Company, on farms, and on ranches, and a welcoming community fostered gentleness among immigrant groups. Crowley School reunions still draw generations back to a place that has kept its character despite hardship, where neighbors remain connected to the land.