In the winter of 1540, Melchior Diaz who had left the Coronado expedition, passed Pilot Knob Mountain at Felicity. He was reportedly the first white man in the area.

The Spaniards, who had settled Mexico, were the first occupiers of the area. All went well at first as the Chief of the Quechans in the 1770's, Salvador Palma, declared his friendship with Captain Juan Bautista de Anza who headed several Spanish expeditions crossing the area. Palma allowed the Spaniards to cross the then treacherous Colorado River near Yuma. The Indians swam the livestock across the river for a toll of one shirt per animal.

In 1779, Royal permission was given to settle the Yuma Crossing in the name of Spain, and Father Garces initiated his mission program on the north bank of the Colorado. The Purisimo de la Concepcion Mission was built where Fort Yuma now stands, eight miles from Felicity.

Spanish rule was oppresive, Indian farms were taken, their people beaten, and a food shortage occurred. On 17 July 1781, the Quechans rebelled striking two Missions and setting fire to churches and homes. The Quechans killed Captain Fernando de Rivera y Moncado, lieutenant governor of California and his men. Surviving Spaniards fled to the Pilot Knob area of Felicity. Some Quechans took pity on the priests and gave them shelter. Their lives were spared for two days. On 19 July, a few hostiles reportedly composed of Pimas as well as Quechans, arrived at the sanctuary and demanded that the priests surrender themselves. The priests set aside their hot chocolate and, unarmed, walked out of the dwelling to meet their deaths.

The Quechan revolt was ultimately successful for the Spaniards withdrew from Felicity and the Yuma Crossing. It would be 60 years before the Quechans were again challenged by invaders.

In November 1846, General Kearney with 100 men of the Normon Battalion, entered California, crossing Felicity and the sand dunes to reach Warner's Ranch in December on their way to San Diego to fight the Mexicans. Following the war with Mexico, the U.S. acquired this territory in 1848.

In 1850, the Yumas (now called Quechan) massacred the Americans operating the Colorado River ferry. They were suppressed by the militia called out by the Governor of California.

A reliable report claims that the Felicity area saw the last incursion of United States territory by a European power. In 1865 three French soldiers of the army of Emperor Maximillian crossed the border in hot pursuit of a Juarista rebel. Upon reaching the point that is today the center of town, they abandoned the quest and returned to Mexico.

French influence at Felicity awaited the installation of Section 12 of the original stairway of the Eiffel Tower in 1990, about 125 years later.

During 1857, mail by mule (called "jackass mail") was inaugurated from Fort Yuma through Felicity to San Diego.

From 1858 to 1861, Butterfield took over the overland mail including the "jackass mail" line. Later, this line came under the control of Wells Fargo. Ruins of the adobe stage station are about two miles east of Felicity.

In the 1860's gold was discovered in the Picacho area, northeast of Felicity. Then gold was discovered in the Cargo Muchacho mountains, adjoining Felicity. Tumco was a big producer from 1884 to 1914. The American Girl mine, started in the early 1900's is still active at present.

A critical historic event was the passage of the Homestead Act in 1862 by the United States Congress, offering 40 acres (and up to 160 acres per family) to any person who would settle on the land for more than a year. The idea was to shift population to the west. It was a success. A trickle of Americans, the vanguard of a flood, came from east to west. The area was crossed by an increasing number of wagon trains bringing immigrants who settled the Imperial Valley at the turn of the 20th century. Most were Europeans, and some Swiss dairy farmers settled Holtville Ca. 35 miles west of Felicity.

In 1878, Southern Pacific constructed a railroad line through Felicity to Los Angeles. In the 1880's, as Yuma settled, some persons migrated across the Colorado River to the present village of Bard, California.

The sand dunes, viewed from and west of Felicity, were originally called the Colorado Desert, then the American Sahara, and today the Imperial Valley Sand Dunes.

In 1915, with the advent of the upcoming Balboa Park Exposition, celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal, it became imperative to have a reliable and direct route from Arizona and points east to San Diego. An entrepreneur named Ed Fletcher laid two parallel tracks, each 25" wide, spiked to wooden cross pieces for six and a half miles across the shifting sand dunes. In 1916, it was replaced with a solid plank roadway eight feet wide. Whenever a car went off the track, the occupants had to wait until another going in the same direction contained enough men to lift the stranded car back on the track. This famous "Plank Road" was replaced with a modern asphalt road in 1926, later US 80 now replaced by the present Interstate 8. Vestiges of the "Plank Road" remain as a tourist sight just west of Felicity.

It was not until the 1920's that part of the land that is now Felicity was actually claimed under the Homestead Act by Emil Carlson, wire chief for Western Union in Yuma, for himself, his wife, Olive and for members of his family.

The Carlson family is distinguished. Part of the children's schooling took place at Ogilby, a village nestled among gold mines and just north of Felicity. The Ogilby Grammar School was a boxcar donated by the Southern Pacific. It accomodated all eight grades in the one car until replaced by a better schoolhouse in 1924, and still better in the 1930's. Emil's youngest son Fred, bought the schoolhouse at Ogilby in 1959. He moved the building several miles to the south side of old US 80, now Felicity, making it one of the first buildings of the area. Fred, last homesteader on site, lived there until near retirement in 1974.

The eldest brother, Barrie, an accountant and noted amateur minerologist, graciously contributed to this history. Their middle brother Kent, graduated from Stanford University and was one of the few Americans who flew Spitfires in 1940 for the British in World War II, before America went to war. He then transferred to the U.S. Air Force and died in an aircraft accident shortly after the war ended.

In 1942, General George S. Patton of the U.S. Army trained his troops for the North Africa landing at Felicity and points north. On 11 November 1990, veterans of Patton's army held a reunion at Felicity, and that same year a monument was erected at Felicity to record this noble phase of history.

In 1952, during the Korean War, a young U.S.Marine lieutenant born in France, Jacques-Andre Istel, saw the intriguing desert and determined to buy a large site if he survived. He did, and in the late 1950's he financed the drilling of a well, discovered a wonderful aquifer, and formed a family group that bought the bulk of the township that is now Felicity.

An early meeting with Fred Carlson led to a lifelong friendship. Some thirty years later, Istel added to the township the Carlson homestead as well as land from Judge F. Lewis Ingraham, thus obtaining a section of the Sidewinder exit on Interstate 8. This provided superb access to Felicity which was already well serviced by old U.S. 80 as a frontage road and by the main track of the Southern Pacific railroad.

Over a quarter century of Istel's business career was spent running his own parachute company. Upon selling same, he moved to the desert in 1985. He created the Town of Felicity named for his wife Felicia and, to our knowledge, the first town in America named for a Chinese lady. The town was legally established on 11 March 1986 by the Board of Supervisors of Imperial County (Book 258, File 220.18, Page 234).

Istel's approach to Felicity was visionary. In 1962, he had read Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" and believed her warning about pesticides. He therefore refused to farm for three decades the land that is now Felicity in order to protect the aquifer. Today, the water quality of Felicity is among the best in the southwest and far superior to that of nearby areas. No chlorine is required in the water supply.

Istel's philosophy is simple: " Concentrate on the quality of life". Build little, but of high quality with strict architectural standards and no debt. Eventually, plan the growth of Felicity.

For this purpose the Felicity Historical Society was created with Covenants to ensure the attractive development of the town, now and in the future.

Even the State of California, which built the area headquarters of the California Highway Patrol at Felicity, could not buy land until it met the architectural standards of the Felicity Historical Society. The resulting unusual building is a contender for an architectural prize.

Istel had had some success with inventions and, desiring to fix a memorable point, wrote a children's book that established The Official Center of the World (R) at Felicity.

The center of the world or universe could be anywhere, therefore had never been established by law. Laws are logical and the concept had no logic. Hence such a law could not be based on geography, philosophy, history, morality, religion, psychology or other logical reason.

Istel reasoned that a fairy tale is memorable and uncontroversial. Who in the world argues that Little Red Riding Hood wore a blue dress? A fairy tale was the answer! His children's book "Coe The Good Dragon At The Center Of The World" (now in its sixth edition) caused the Supervisors of Imperial County to establish The Official Center of the World at Felicity by law on 21 May 1985.

The law provides geographic co-ordinates and sets The Official Center of the World for the first time in history. To everyone's surprise, on 14 September 1989, the Institut Geographique National of the government of France, recognized The Official Center of the World in writing and notified other governmental geographic institutions in Europe of their action. Indeed a United States law is owed recognition by the International Court at the Hague.

There followed respectful articles in magazines, newspapers and television programs in over 100 countries. Istel found a noble use for The Official Center of the World: a central point for remembrance. The World Commemorative Center (R), endorsed by the Board of Supervisors of Imperial County, is being built on open space designated for cultural, park and museum use.

A hundred granite walls are planned around the "Church on the Hill at Felicity". This church, on a man-made hill, is planned and currently under development. It is to be the highest building and the focal point of Felicity, now and forever.

The first wall entitled the WALL FOR THE AGES (R) is built, as is the MILLENIUM WALL (tm). Another, the MARINE CORPS KOREAN WAR MEMORIAL bearing the names of 4,617 Marines and 107 Navy Corpsmen who died in the Korean War was dedicated on 7 March 1998.

The Town of Felicity is dedicated to the quality of life in America, today and henceforth.

WORLD COMMEMORATIVE CENTER
One Center of the World Plaza
Felicity, CA 92283-7777, U.S.A.
Telephone: 760-572-5000
Fax: 760-572-2222
E-mail: info@memorialwalls.com