Alewife (or kyack). In Atlantic Canada it is known as the gaspereau, from the Acadian French word "gasparot", first mentioned by Nicolas Denys. William Francis Ganong, New Brunswick biologist and historian, wrote: Gaspereau, or Gasparot. Name of a common salt-water fish of Acadia (also called alewife), first used, so far as I can find, by Denys in 1672. Nowhere can I find any clue to its origin. It seems not to be Indian. Acadians named two rivers after the fish, the Gaspereau River in Nova Scotia and the Gaspereaux River in New Brunswick. In eastern Massachusetts, Alewife Brook flows through Arlington,
Alewife Linear Park segment in Cambridge is also known as the "Cambridge Linear Park". The Somerville segment is signed as the "Somerville Community Path: Alewife Linear Park Segment". Along with the Somerville Community Path segment from Davis Square to Lowell Street, the combined distance is about 2.1 miles (3.4 km). From Somerville nearly to Alewife, the park follows a right-of-way first established in 1870 and used by a succession of railroad companies. This route was used for passenger service on the Lexington Branch between 1870 and 1927, and for freight operations on the Fitchburg Cutoff for several decades longer. The Massachusetts Highway Department