POTW: Brighton Beach Hotel Move

[Men examining railroad cable at moving of Hotel Brighton], 1888, V1974.7.86; Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection, ARC.191; Brooklyn Historical Society.

The Brighton Beach Hotel was a grand, three-story, 174-room waterfront hotel in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn.  The hotel was built too close to the ocean, and after ten years, the hotel faced serious erosion issues that threatened the structure and foundation. In April 1888, a decision was made to move the entire (estimated eight million pound) structure approximately 600 feet inland.

This was no small task and the plan was to move the hotel on wheels by first driving piles under the entire front of the building and then building 24 railroad tracks on those piles. Over ten days, six locomotives slowly and successfully pulled the structure over the tracks to drag it away from the ocean. The Evening World reported that it was the “biggest case of house-moving on record.” The hotel remained in this new location until it was demolished in 1923.

The photo of the week depicts men examining the railroad cable before the move in 1888. This photograph is part of the Adrian Vanderveer Martense collection that comprises lantern slides and photographs taken by amateur photographer Martense from 1872 through 1889. Martense photographed Brooklyn houses, streets, and informal portraits of people. He also photographed momentous events including the Blizzard of 1888 and this series of photographs during the Hotel Brighton move. To view other photographs of the Brighton Hotel move by Martense, check out this gallery.

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org