The estuary is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) long, navigable, and open to the ocean at both ends. Its surface area is 1.9 square miles (4.9 km2). The name "Annisquam" comes from an Algonquian term meaning "top of the rock, containing <wanashque>, "on top of", and <-ompsk>, "rock".[1] The first European settlement in Annisquam was established in 1631. The river was dredged by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1965 to create a channel some 8 feet (2.4 m) deep, and 60 to 200 feet (18 to 61 m) wide. Annisquam Harbor Light stands on the east, Cape Ann, side of the north entrance to the river.