There are few
tall buildings on Long Island. Nassau County is more densely developed than Suffolk County. While affluent overall, Nassau County has pockets of more pronounced wealth with estates covering greater acreage within the
Gold Coast of the
North Shore and the
Five Towns area on the
South Shore. South Shore communities are built along protected
wetlands of the island and contain white sandy beaches of
Outer Barrier Islands fronting on the Atlantic Ocean. Dutch and English settlers from the time before the
American Revolutionary War, as well as communities of Native Americans, populated the island. The 19th century saw the infusion of the wealthiest Americans in the so-called
Gold Coast of the
North Shore, where wealthy Americans and Europeans in the
Gilded Age built lavish country homes.