Just as Bostonians are worried about the water-encased pilings that support their properties, custodians of North Carolina's Cape Hatteras Lighthouse feared for its similar support system in the 1990s.

Plans to move the landmark from its erosion-threatened site to a safer location bore fruit in 1999. The decision was based partly on concerns that the encroaching Atlantic could knock the lighthouse over. But another important consideration, according to news accounts, was the possibility that saltwater could penetrate the water table, perhaps endangering the pine pilings that had supported the lighthouse since its completion in 1870.

Meanwhile, for some good mystery fiction in which Boston's pilings play a role, try Jane Langton's 1993 novel "Divine Inspiration."