[Moving of Brighton Beach Hotel], April 3 1888, v1972.1.554; Walter H. Nelson, Brooklyn Historical Society Photography Collection.

The Brighton Beach Hotel was a three-story structure located on Brighton Beach, at the foot of today’s Coney Island Avenue. The hotel was constructed by William A. Engeman and completed in 1878. Brighton Beach was connected to Manhattan by the Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Coney Island Railway, which later became the BMT Brighton Line (or the B and Q trains). Developers of the area intended it to serve as a middle-class alternative to the seedier Coney Island resorts nearby.

In the 1880s, severe beach erosion began to threaten the hotel’s waterfront location. The building was moved, in a single piece, to a location several hundred feet further inland. The move was engineered by B.C. Miller, and took nine days to complete, although the hotel did not reopen until late June. This photograph was taken on April 3, 1888; it shows the second day of the move. Visible on the left side of the photo are the locomotive tracks and flat cars that, along with six steam locomotives, were used to move the building.