The
North Shore of
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
is the area along Long Island's northern coast, bordering
Long Island SoundLong Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
. The region has long been the most affluent on Long Island, as well as the most affluent in the
New York metropolitan areaThe New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
, which has earned it the
nicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"the Gold Coast." Though some consider the North Shore to include parts of
QueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, particularly the quasi-
suburbThe word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an northeastern neighborhoods such as
DouglastonDouglaston, population 14,168 , is a community in the New York City borough of Queens. Douglaston comprises six distinct neighborhoods: Doug Bay, Douglas Manor, and Douglaston Hill, all located north of Northern Boulevard on the peninsula abutting Little Neck Bay; Douglaston Park, located between...
, the term is generally used to refer to the Long Island coastline in the towns of North Hempstead,
Oyster BayThe Town of Oyster Bay is easternmost of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County that extends from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the town population was...
, and
HuntingtonThe Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, USA. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan...
, in
NassauNassau County is the name of two counties in the United States:*Nassau County, New York*Nassau County, Florida...
and
Suffolk CountySuffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
.
Being a
terminal moraineA terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a moraine that forms at the end of the glacier called the snout.Terminal moraines mark the maximum advance of the glacier. An end moraine is at the present boundary of the glacier....
of the
Wisconsin glaciationThe last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
, the North Shore is hilly, and its beaches are more rocky than those on the flat, sandy outwash plain of the
south shoreThe South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York, is the area along Long Island's Atlantic Ocean shoreline. Though some consider the South Shore to include parts of Queens, particularly the beach communities in the Rockaways such as Belle Harbor, the term is generally used to refer to...
.
Gold Coast
Thanks to the late 19th century spread of the private estates of
VanderbiltsThe Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...
,
RooseveltsIn heraldry, canting arms are a visual or pictorial play on a surname, and were and still are a popular practice. It would be common to find roses, then, in arms of many Roosevelt families, even unrelated ones...
,
WhitneysThe Whitney family is an American family notable for their social prominence, wealth, business enterprises and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635.-Rise to prominence:...
,
Charles PrattCharles Pratt was a United States capitalist, businessman and philanthropist.Pratt was a pioneer of the U.S. petroleum industry, and established his kerosene refinery Astral Oil Works in Brooklyn, New York. An advertising slogan was "The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil." He...
,
J. P. MorganJohn Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
, F. W. Woolworth, and others in areas where rocky terrain is more productive of pretty views than crops, the North Shore has a long-held reputation of elegance. Many stately old homes can be found there, and an "old money" atmosphere pervades. Some of the largest or most prominent ones, such as Castle Gould (known as
Hempstead HouseHempstead House, also known as Castle Gould or Gould-Guggenheim Estate, is a large estate located in Sands Point, New York . Measuring , , Hempstead House has three floors and contains 40 rooms, punctuated by an...
under the ownership of
Daniel GuggenheimDaniel Guggenheim was an American industrialist and philanthropist, and a son of Meyer Guggenheim.-Biography:...
) in Sands Point, Sagamore Hill,
Vanderbilt MuseumThe Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum is located in Centerport on the North Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, USA. Named for William K...
and
Oheka CastleOheka Castle, also known as the Otto Kahn Estate, is located on the Gold Coast of Long Island, in Huntington, New York. It was the country home of financier and philanthropist Otto Kahn. Built by Kahn between 1914 and 1919, it was and remains the second largest private home in the United States,...
still exist but are no longer private homes. There are many articles, books and films depicting
Gold Coast MansionsThe north shore of Long Island, New York, USA in a sixteen mile stretch from Great Neck to Huntington, was a favorite retreat for the rich and the famous. Many were wealthy industrialists of the Gilded Age who pioneered great industries. These captains of industry spent fortunes on their lavish...
.
In popular culture, the North Shore is perhaps best known as the setting of
F. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
's 1925 novel
The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
, which centered on the area's wealth and the aspiration of the title character to be accepted as a part of its society. The novel's "West Egg" and "East Egg" were fictionalized versions of the real North Shore villages of
Kings PointKings Point is a village and a part of Great Neck in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 5,005.The Village of Kings Point is in the Town of North Hempstead...
and
Sands PointSands Point is a village located at the northernmost tip of the Cow Neck Peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island in Nassau County, New York. As of the United States 2010 Census, the village population was 2,675. The Incorporated Village of Sands Point is in the Town of North...
. The
Gold Coast by
Nelson DeMilleNelson Richard DeMille is an American author of thriller novels. His works include Word of Honor , The Charm School, The Gold Coast, Plum Island, and The General's Daughter .DeMille has also written under the pen names Jack Cannon, Kurt...
is a work of fiction set in the area. The distinctive
upper classIn social science, the "upper class" is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area.- Historical meaning :...
speech pattern known as
Locust Valley lockjawLocust Valley Lockjaw is the colloquial term for a stereotypical upper class American accent associated with elite residents of the New York metropolitan area, particularly those on the North Shore of Long Island...
takes its name from the North Shore's
Locust ValleyLocust Valley is a hamlet located in Nassau County, New York. Locust Valley is an unincorporated area of the Town of Oyster Bay...
area. The aristocratic cachet persists despite suburban infill converting much of the North Shore into commuter towns.
Though the western stretch of the North Shore is considered by most locals to be the more fashionable of Long Island's coasts, once the island splits into two forks at its east end, the North Shore becomes largely rural. This area is known as the
North ForkThe North Fork is a 30-mile-long peninsula in the northeast part of Suffolk County, New York, roughly parallel with an even longer peninsula known as the South Fork...
, and it contrasts starkly with the
South ForkThe South Fork of Suffolk County, New York, United States is a peninsula in the southeast part of the county on the South Shore of Long Island. The South Fork includes most of the Hamptons. The shorter, more northerly peninsula is known as the North Fork....
's Hamptons, though it resembles the more easterly
Outer LandsThe Outer Lands is a term denoting the prominent terminal moraine archipelagic region off the southern coast of New England in the United States...
. In the past 25 years, the North Fork has reinvented itself as a major center for the production of wine.
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