In 1884 Savona was designated as the eastern end of Andrew Onderdonk's contract for building the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) for the Canadian government. Onderdonk continued building eastward under a CPR contract. As the railway was built on the south side of the river, most of the houses were pulled across the lake on the ice, moving the community to where it is today. Some buildings that were moved across the lake include the General Store. In 1915, the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway, now part of Canadian National Railway, was built along the north side of Kamloops Lake.