Now we’ve seen Yuma
Today Bill and Smidty had some things they wanted to do on their own so they sent us to see the sights of Yuma—The Center of the World and the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. The Schripsemas have been to both these places multiple times and told us once we had seen those, that is it, that’s all there is to see in Yuma.
I wondered what in the world (ha ha, made a pun) The Center of the World would be. Turns out it’s a funny little place called Felicity, population 2 (!), right off the highway. The young woman at the museum said, they are a “history of humanity in granite,” which still left me wondering, what in the world?
Turns out years ago after the Korean War, a man from France and his wife decided to buy a bunch of land and then had a point on it officially recognized as the center of the world. They built a pyramid on the spot and, for $3 extra, you can go into the pyramid, stand on the spot, look due North, make a wish, and receive a certificate. We stood on the spot at 12:21 pm and the woman tour guide said that is our “angel number,” meaning it is like a special good message from an angel. Every day? When we notice the clock says 12:21? Not sure.
The Center of the World pyramid.
And the “history of humanity in granite”? There are a bunch of granite triangular walls with history and pictures engraved on them. They’re quite thorough, covering from when humans first developed, many countries, art, science, writing, animals, and pretty much everything you can think of. It’s kind of impressive. One woman artist etched all the pictures freehand according to the tour guide. That alone is impressive.
You can see the other rows of granite. One is a Korean War memorial with all the names of those who died in that war. There are also several blank spaces, for more history to come, I assume.
Standing on the Center of the World with our certificates.
There was a little church at the top of a hill, quite pretty and with sweeping views.
Kinda random, there is a sundial made with “the arm of God from Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.”
Also kind of random, there was a spiral staircase that is from the original Eiffel Tower. The tour guide said originally the tower was made with a bunch of these spiral staircases made from solid steel. They were taken out and the tower was rebuilt with safer materials. For some reason—maybe because the founder is French??—this place got this section, section 12 they said.
After that eclectic stop, we headed to the Historic Yuma Territorial Prison State Park. Interesting place.
The arched entrance you see is called a “sally port.”
The prison had both men and women and the museum featured stories of several women.
This cell is called “the dark room” and one of the workers said to be careful, sometimes there are bats in it. I decided not to chance it!
Pearl Hart seemed to be the most infamous “bad girl.”
