Felicity, California

{{Short description|Unincorporated community in California, United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox settlement

|name = Felicity, California

|other_name =

|native_name =

|nickname =

|settlement_type =Unincorporated community

|image_skyline =

|imagesize =

|image_caption =

|pushpin_map =California#USA

|pushpin_label_position =top

|pushpin_mapsize =

|pushpin_map_caption =Location in California

|pushpin_image=

|subdivision_type = Country

|subdivision_name =United States

|subdivision_type1 = State

|subdivision_name1 = California

|subdivision_type2 =County

|subdivision_name2 = Imperial County

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|subdivision_name3 =

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|established_title =

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|coordinates = {{coord|32|45|01|N|114|45|55|W|region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}

|elevation_footnotes = {{gnis|2025252}}

|elevation_m =87

|elevation_ft =285

|footnotes =

}}

Felicity is an unincorporated community in Imperial County, California.{{cite news |last1=Anton |first1=Mike |title=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. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-16-me-felicity16-story.html |access-date=January 18, 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 16, 2008 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127212639/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-felicity16apr16,1,6734210.story |archive-date=2013-01-27}}{{cbignore}} The town was established in 1986 by 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.{{cite news |last1=Mooallem |first1=Jon |author1-link=Jon Mooallem |title=A Journey to the Center of the World |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/magazine/a-journey-to-the-center-of-the-world.html |access-date=17 January 2021 |work=The New York Times Magazine |date=19 February 2014 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140903101456/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/magazine/a-journey-to-the-center-of-the-world.html |archive-date=3 September 2014 |url-status=unfit}}{{cbignore|bot=InternetArchiveBot}} It is 2,600 acres and lies at an elevation of 285 feet (87 m).

It is accessible from Interstate 8 in the far southeast of the state, just west of Yuma, Arizona.{{Cite web|last=Burke |first=Anne |date=2 January 2019 |title=A strange museum at the 'centre of the world' |publisher=BBC |url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190101-a-strange-museum-at-the-centre-of-the-world |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106224923/http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190101-a-strange-museum-at-the-centre-of-the-world |archive-date=6 January 2019 |url-status=live |df=dmy}}

The Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation is located nearby. During World War II, the town was the site of Camp Pilot Knob, the US Army's training center.{{cite web |title=Camp Pilot Knob, California |url=https://www.deserttrainingcenter.com/CampPilotKnob.html |website=Desert Training Center |access-date=17 January 2021}}

The town's key features are a {{convert|21|foot||adj=mid|-tall stone-and-glass pyramid}}, a church on a man-made hill, and the 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.

In May 1985, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors designated Felicity as the Official Center of the World.

File:Center of the world pyramid.JPG|The pyramid houses the official center point.

File:Felicity1.jpg|Entrance to Center of the World Plaza