The Passagassawakeag River (pas-uh-gas-uh-WAH-keg; pa-SAH-ga-suh-WAH-keg) is a 16 miles (25.7 km) river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Waldo County

Waldo County, Maine

Waldo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 38,786. Its county seat is Belfast.Waldo County was founded on 7 February 1827 from a portion of Hancock County...

, Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. From the outlet of Lake Passagassawakeag (44.5012°N 69.13295 °W) in Brooks

Brooks, Maine

Brooks is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,022 at the 2000 census.The town was named after John Brooks, the Federalist candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1815-1816, when the town incorporated. The town of Dexter, which incorporated the same year, was named...

, it runs south and east to its estuary

Estuary

An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

 in Belfast, Maine

Belfast, Maine

Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,668. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River on Penobscot Bay, Belfast is the county seat of Waldo County...

. The river empties into Belfast Bay, an inlet of Penobscot Bay

Penobscot Bay

Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...

, where it passes under US Route 1.

The waterway's name is of local Indian origin and is believed to mean "a sturgeon's place" or "a place for spearing sturgeon by torchlight." Penobscot is also an Indian name which is said to mean "place of ghosts."

Locals refer to the river as the "Passy," or humorously, the "Passy gassy rum keg."