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St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church

St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church in North Miami.

St. Bernard de Clairvaux Church in Miami Florida is the oldest building in the United States, and one of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. You’d be forgiven to believe that it was built here. It was actually constructed during the 12th century as a Cisterician monastery in the town of Sacramenia, Spain. William Randolph Hurst purchased the building in 1925, and planned to have it shipped to his “Castle” in San Simeon California. Financial difficulties made that impossible and it sat in a warehouse in Brooklyn, New York until 1952.

Raymond Moss and William Edgemon purchased the building and started reconstruction on a nursery in Miami in 1962. The building and property were purchased in 1964 Bishop Henry I. Louttit where it remains in use as a church building and part time tourist attraction.