area in and around North Battleford. The immigrant colony comprised 36 men and a few women from the town of Urmia in northwestern Persia. It was established in 1903 by Dr. Isaac Adams, an Assyrian Presbyterian missionary. In 1907, 40 more settlers arrived. Eventually, due to economic hardships, Dr. Isaac Adams and a few close relatives emigrated to Turlock, California. The descendants of the families who remained in North Battleford have names that are Assyrian in origin. Examples of Assyrian family names include Bakus, Essau, and Odishaw. Population growth stagnated until the 1940s and then grew to approximately 10,000 by the 1960s. The city has grown into an administrative centre and service hub for the economic, education, health and social needs of the region. North Battleford used STV-PR in its city elections from 1920 to 1924. The Latter Rain Revival, a Christian movement, started here in 1946–48. Historic sites A number of heritage buildings are located within the city. The North Battleford Public Library was built in 1916 with a $15,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation of New York. and the Canadian National Railways Station was built in 1956. The iconic Water Tower in North Battleford illuminates the skyline at night. The City of North Battleford is working with Cenovus Energy to replace the lighting on the water tower in 2023, allowing for coloured and energy-efficient lighting to be added to the structure. Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, North Battleford had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the late 2000s many Ruthenians have emigrated to Canada, concentrating in North Battleford. Most of them came from the same town: Ruski Krstur. Crime rate In 2021, North Battleford was ranked at the top of Statistics Canada's "Crime Severity Index", a weighted measure of crime per capita in communities of more than 10,000 residents. In response, the City of North Battleford has developed several proactive measures and public promotion to educate residents and to enhance community safety. These efforts are mostly to reduce the amount of crimes of opportunity such as mischief and theft under $5000. Mischief files comprise 30% of the reported files in North Battleford, while another 10% of the files listed on the Crime Severity Index