Center of the World

Felicity is an unincorporated community with a population of 14, the kind of place you might miss if you blink—or stop for gas too long. Founded in 1986 by Jacques-André Istel, it began as a patch of desert he bought in the 1950s and later transformed after selling his parachute business. Some people retire quietly; Istel chose to reinvent the map.

Along the way, he wrote a children’s book about dragons that casually declared Felicity the Center of the World. His reasoning was simple and brilliant: no one seriously argues with a children’s book, especially one involving dragons.

Travelers who wander in will find something unexpected rising from the desert: long granite walls, two inches thick and stretching about 100 feet, built to last 4,000 years. On them, Istel has been carving his message to the future—history, ideas, images, and curiosities he believes are worth remembering. There are already more than 700 engraved panels and over 1,000 hand-etched illustrations.

It’s the kind of place that makes you slow down, stretch your legs, and smile—a reminder that sometimes the best travel stops aren’t on the map at all, even when they insist they’re the very center of it.

The sculptured arm of the sundial is modeled after God’s 

outstretched arm on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

A lovely chapel 

All the pictures are hand etched into the granite

Amy checking taking it all in.

Stencils have been carefully placed on the granite, laying out the letters and straight lines that will soon be sandblasted into the stone, transforming the raw surface into a permanent record.

The Center of the World is a surprisingly interesting place to visit.