Spectators gather to view the Brighton Beach Hotel, previously known as the Hotel Brighton, prior to its move inland; April 3, 1888.

Upon its opening in July 1878, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle hailed the new Hotel Brighton, "where all Brooklyn will summer" as "probably the grandest seaside hotel in the entire country." The 178-room hotel was situated a stone's throw from the shoreline, on thirty acres of beachfront property owned by the Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Coney Island Railroad Company.

Just a decade later, the selling point of ocean proximity had become a liability: beach erosion threatened the integrity of the hotel's supporting piles, necessitating an ingenious relocation effort. (In this photo, taken immediately before the hotel was moved, waves can be seen lapping well beneath the building's main floor.)

Engineers devised a novel solution: the entire hotel would be pulled 500-600 feet inland, atop 24 railroad tracks installed for the purpose. The Hotel was reopened at its new location at the foot of Coney Island Avenue, where it operated until it was shuttered and razed in 1923.