Church on the Hill

In 1952, Parisian-born Jacques-André Istel first laid eyes on the enormous, untouched desert between California and Arizona, and bought almost 3,000 acres of land. He never could have imagined what it would become.

He and his wife, Felicia, didn’t develop the land for several decades, as he was busy running the world’s first private parachute company (earning him the moniker “the father of American Skydiving”). When their focus returned to ground level, the first task was figuring out the property’s center point. While they were at it, the couple decided to call it the Center of the World. Jacques-André freely admits that this could be anywhere on Earth’s sphere, and nobody argued the claim. Instead, Imperial County supervisors unanimously passed a property law confirming it as “official,” and a plaque was laid.

In 1986 the couple formally founded that town, with a population of two. It was named for Jacques- André’s wife—the center of his world for more than fifty years. And with a landslide victory of two votes, he was elected mayor (a bedazzled red sash he still wears proudly).

The sign for Felicity, pop. 2, is only one of the reasons you might follow your curiosity and take the exit. From Interstate 8, you might also notice the winding staircase in the middle of town…because it is 25 feet tall, connected to nothing, and leads to nowhere. Closer inspection will reveal it was originally part of the Eiffel Tower. Having been removed during repairs, it went up for auction, so Jacques- André bought it and transported it to Felicity. Next, you’ll notice a huge sundial with an arm modeled after Michelangelo’s hand of God from the Sistine Chapel, pointing visitors toward the completely arbitrary center of our planet.

You cannot stand at the center of the world without being struck by this stunning Church on the Hill, which appears to have been taken from a storybook. After the site was blessed, 150,000 tons of earth was moved to create a 35-foot-high Hill of Prayer.
All religions are welcome, though it is only used for weddings, not regular services. Reaching the summit requires climbing 49 steps, and the Church on the Hill sits above all else in Felicity. Why? Jacques-André just felt compelled, which is probably his explanation for the town’s replica of the Liberty Bell, its take on the pyramids, and much more.

Nothing matches the church’s aesthetic beauty. However, the primary motivation for visitors to pay three dollars to visit is to stand on the Official Center of the World—as sanctioned by the likes of the United Nations and the French government’s own Institut Géographique National. But, for the parachuting ringmaster of this desert circus, Felicity’s pièce de résistance is its illustrious museum, History of Humanity in Granite.

The museum includes roughly twenty granite plaques, most of which are over 100 feet long, offering an extremely detailed world history, written by Jacques-André. It details everything from the early days of California to French aviation to marine biology to replicas of the Mona Lisa to a list of all members of the US Marine Corps who died during the Korean War, in which he served.

When asked what the Church on the Hill and this desert mind bender of a township cost him, the mayor, around whom the world revolves, smirked: “More than a hot dog and less than the space shuttle.”

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