View source for Saugus River

{{short description|River in Massachusetts, United States}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
[[Image:Saugus River (Massachusetts) map.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Saugus River and environs]]

The '''Saugus River''' is a river in [[Massachusetts]].

The river is {{convert|13|mi|km}} long, drains a watershed of approximately {{convert|47|sqmi|km2}}, and passes through [[Wakefield, Massachusetts|Wakefield]], [[Lynnfield, Massachusetts|Lynnfield]], [[Saugus, Massachusetts|Saugus]], and [[Lynn, Massachusetts|Lynn]] as it meanders east and south from its source in [[Lake Quannapowitt]] in Wakefield (elevation {{convert|90|ft}}) to its mouth in [[Broad Sound (Massachusetts)|Broad Sound]]. It has at least eight [[tributary|tributaries]]: the Mill River; Bennets Pond Brook; the Pines River; Hawkes Brook; Crystal Pond Brook; Beaver Dam Brook; Strawberry Brook; and Shute Brook.

Although Native Americans called the river ''Aboutsett'' ("winding stream"), European settlers first called it the River at Saugus, where ''Saugus'' (possibly a native word for "long") arguably named the beach running from [[Swampscott, Massachusetts|Swampscott]] to [[Revere, Massachusetts|Revere]] (there are competing theories as to the origin of the word "Saugus"). In early European times, [[alewife (fish)|alewives]] and [[bass (fish)|bass]] were harvested from 1632 onwards. The [[Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site|Saugus Iron Works]] used water power from the river in by 1642, and the river subsequently attracted grist mills, chocolate mills, wool and flannel mills, and a tannery.

{{Saugus River}}

== References ==
* [http://www.saugusriver.org/ Saugus River Watershed Council]
* "A Gathering of Memories: Saugus 1900-2000" by John Burns, Tom Sheehan, et al.;  2000, Jostens / [[Saugus.net]], {{ISBN|978-0-9703141-0-9}}; http://www.saugus.org/GatheringOfMemories/ (Provides at least three conflicting theories as to the origin of the name "Saugus")

{{coord|42.44382|-70.96724|region:US-MA|format=dms|display=title}}

{{SaugusMA}}
{{WakefieldMA}}
{{Massachusetts rivers}}

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[[Category:Rivers of Essex County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Wakefield, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Saugus, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Rivers of Massachusetts]]