Jessica Addo, the City of North Battleford’s senior gallery associate and part-time archivist, poses for a photo inside the archives office at the Don Ross Centre in North Battleford. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Kenneth Cheung

LOCAL HISTORY

History hiding in plain sight: North Battleford to open its archives for Archives Week

Feb 2, 2026 | 12:23 PM

For someone driving through North Battleford, it’s easy to miss how much history is hiding in plain sight.

Buildings that once echoed with the sounds of students now serve new purposes. Streets travelled every day were once known by different names. And for many residents, the places tied to their family’s past exist only in photographs stored far from public view.

That’s what the City of North Battleford Historic Archives is hoping to bring forward during Archives Week, a province-wide initiative that highlights the role of archives in preserving and sharing local heritage across Saskatchewan during the first full week of February. 

The exhibit, Educational Roots in North Battleford, will be on display at the Co-op Territorial Mall from Feb. 5 to Feb. 7, running daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The display is free and open to the public.

An archival photograph of North Battleford’s first school, the former King Street School, is featured as part of a display marking Archives Week. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

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For archivist Jessica Addo, the story of education is inseparable from the city’s broader evolution.

“It’s just the timeline of how this city moved from being a village to a town to a city what we have present day,” said Addo, the city’s senior gallery associate and part-time archivist.

The displays will explore how schools, classrooms and educators influenced the development of North Battleford. Many of the stories tied to that history are connected to familiar places, including buildings residents may not realize once served as schools.

“The building that we’re currently in, the Don Ross Centre, used to be St. Thomas College,” Addo said.

“For someone like me that recently moved here, I would have no idea or no knowledge of this kind of history. So that is what we are trying to highlight to people, so people can know.”

Jessica Addo, the City of North Battleford’s senior gallery associate and part-time archivist, reviews displays from previous Archives Week exhibits inside her office at the Don Ross Centre. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

Learning those connections has been part of Addo’s own experience of settling into the city after moving from Halifax, N.S., last year.

“I learned that 108th Street used to be called James Street,” she said. “101st Street used to be called King Street.”

Beyond public displays, the archives handle a steady stream of inquiries from people tracing family histories or searching for past events.

Addo said the department uses a searchable database to manage its collections, allowing staff and volunteers to quickly locate photographs, documents and newspapers by keyword rather than searching shelves by hand.

The collection includes local newspapers dating back to the 1920s, preserving snapshots of daily life across generations.

A display from a previous Archives Week exhibit highlights historical photographs and documents drawn from the City of North Battleford Historic Archives. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

Some displays from a previous Archives Week exhibit highlight historical photographs and documents drawn from the City of North Battleford Historic Archives. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

Archives Week offers one of the few times each year when residents can explore those materials without booking an appointment.

“It makes it so accessible for people to actually come see what we have put up,” Addo said.

Much of that accessibility, she added, comes from a small group of volunteers who help research materials and build displays.

“This place wouldn’t operate without them,” Addo said. “They are the brains behind all these.”

The five-member committee is made up of longtime residents who bring lived experience to the work.

“They know the history by heart because they lived it,” she said.

The City of North Battleford Historic Archives office is located inside the Don Ross Centre, where archival materials and past exhibits are stored and prepared. (Image Credit: Kenneth Cheung/battlefordsNOW)

For Addo, the motivation behind the exhibit and Archives Week itself  is straightforward.

“It’s history,” she said. “You can’t throw away history. It is important to, once in a while, go back and learn your roots.”

The department also accepts donations that are strictly textual and photographic, due to space limitations and a focus on preserving records that document the city’s history rather than physical artifacts.

Anyone interested in learning more about the City of North Battleford’s archives, submitting a research request or booking an appointment can contact the department at archives@cityofnb.ca.

Kenneth.Cheung@pattisonmedia.com