Felicity, California
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| Felicity, California | | --- | | [Unincorporated community](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unincorporated_area#United_States "Unincorporated area") |
|  !Image 2: Felicity, California Felicity, California Location in California Show map of California Show map of the United States Show both |
| Coordinates: !Image 3: Show location on an interactive map32°45′01″N 114°45′55″W / 32.75028°N 114.76528°W | | Country | [United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States "United States") | | State | [California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California "California") | | County | [Imperial County](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_County,_California "Imperial County, California") | | Elevation [[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-gnis-1) | 285 ft (87 m) |
**Felicity** is an [unincorporated community](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unincorporated_area#United_States "Unincorporated area") in [Imperial County, California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_County,_California "Imperial County, California").[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-gnis-1)[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-LA-Times-1-2) The town was established in 1986 by [Jacques-Andre Istel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques-Andre_Istel "Jacques-Andre Istel") who bought the land in the 1950s and developed it in the 1980s after selling off his parachute business. The town is "Dedicated to Remembrance" and named for Istel's wife Felicia.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-mooallem-3) It is 2,600 acres and lies at an elevation of 285 feet (87 m).[[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-gnis-1)
It is accessible from [Interstate 8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_8_in_California "Interstate 8 in California") in the far southeast of the state, just west of [Yuma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuma,_Arizona "Yuma, Arizona"), [Arizona](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona "Arizona").[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-Burke-4)
The [Quechan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quechan "Quechan") Tribe of the [Fort Yuma Indian Reservation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Yuma_Indian_Reservation "Fort Yuma Indian Reservation") is located nearby. During [World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II "World War II"), the town was the site of [Camp Pilot Knob](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Pilot_Knob "Camp Pilot Knob"), the US Army's training center.[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-5)
The town's key features are a 21-foot-tall stone-and-glass pyramid (6.4 m), a church on a man-made hill, and the [Museum of History in Granite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_History_in_Granite "Museum of History in Granite"), which Istel has been developing since the town's founding. The museum consists of dozens of granite panels, most of them over 100 feet long and weighing approximately 500 tons. Etched on the panels is a historical record of humanity as chronicled by Istel. The lead artist on the project is Gene Britton.[[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-mooallem-3)
In May 1985, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors designated Felicity as the Official Center of the World.[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-LA-Times-1-2)[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_note-Burke-4)
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The pyramid houses the official center point.
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Entrance to Center of the World Plaza
1. Jump up to: 123U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Felicity, California
2. Jump up to: 12Anton, Mike (April 16, 2008). ["See it now: the center of the world; The History of Humanity is being etched in stone in the California desert. The real story is the builder"](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-16-me-felicity16-story.html). _[Los Angeles Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los\_Angeles\_Times "Los Angeles Times")_. Retrieved January 18, 2021.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service "Category:CS1 maint: deprecated archival service"))
3. Jump up to: 12[Mooallem, Jon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Mooallem "Jon Mooallem") (February 19, 2014). "A Journey to the Center of the World". _[The New York Times Magazine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_New\_York\_Times\_Magazine "The New York Times Magazine")_. Retrieved January 17, 2021.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service "Category:CS1 maint: deprecated archival service"))
4. Jump up to: 12Burke, Anne (2 January 2019). "A strange museum at the 'centre of the world'". BBC. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019.
5. [↑](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicity,_California#cite_ref-5 "Jump up")"Camp Pilot Knob, California". _[Desert Training Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert\_Training\_Center "Desert Training Center")_. Retrieved January 17, 2021.