The Annisquam River is a tidal, salt-water

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

in the

Annisquam Annisquam is a waterfront village in the Gloucester, Massachusetts, city of Gloucester, on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Massachusetts. It is a few miles across Cape Ann from downtown Gloucester. History The name "Annisquam" come ...

neighborhood of Gloucester, Massachusetts, connecting Annisquam Harbor on the north to Gloucester Harbor on the south. The segment between Gloucester Harbor and the Newburyport/Rockport Line bridge is also known as the Blynman Canal. The estuary is about long, navigable, and open to the ocean at both ends. Its surface area is . The name "Annisquam" comes from an Algonquian term meaning "top of the rock, containing '''', "on top of", and ''<-ompsk>'', "rock". The first European settlement in Annisquam was established in 1631. The river was

dredged Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

in 1965 to create a channel some deep, and wide. Annisquam Harbor Light stands on the east, Cape Ann, side of the north entrance to the river. There are only three fixed crossings of the river:

Massachusetts Route 128 Route 128, known as the Yankee Division Highway, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts maintained by the Highway Division of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning , it is one of two beltways (the oth ...

, the Rockport Branch of the MBTA Newburyport/Rockport Line, and Western Avenue (

Massachusetts Route 127 Route 127 is a north–south Massachusetts state route that runs from Beverly to Gloucester. Much of the northern part of the route is in Cape Ann. Route 127's southern terminus is at Route 1A and the southern terminus of Route 22 in Beve ...

). There are strong tidal currents in the river, and unusually the current flows in opposite directions at the two ends.http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/currents15/tab2ac2.html

References

* * * {{coord, 42, 39, 18, N, 70, 41, 8, W, display=title Gloucester, Massachusetts Estuaries of Massachusetts Bodies of water of Essex County, Massachusetts