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C−History
History · Avenal

Avenal’s post office opened in 1929

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #569 of 847 in California. What drives it

Most of Avenal was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1950.

1929first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Armona · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Avenal began

When was Avenal founded?

1929

The Avenal post office opened in 1929, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1979.

First census: 3,982 in 19502020 census: 13,69697 years

How historic is Avenal?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Avenal post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1979.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Avenal’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Avenal is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #569 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Avenal’s overall grade.
Founding era1929, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19407.4% of homes (±4.2) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 33%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Avenal’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1979.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Avenal’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Avenal are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Avenal’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Avenal’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Avenal came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Avenal.

Read it all →

The City of Avenal was named by Spanish soldiers and explorers. In Spanish, avena means 'oats', and avenal means 'oatfield'. This area was covered with wild oats, "waist high," that looked like golden silk and covered the Kettleman Plains.

Early American settlers arrived in the Kettleman Hills during the 1850s with dreams of raising cattle and farming. Oil, however, would bring fame, fortune and people to the area. Native Americans had always known oil was in the hills, with natural seepage around Coalinga and Tar Canyon. The first Kettleman Hills well was drilled in 1900, followed by countless unproductive efforts.

ChaptersEarly historyGrowth

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Avenal, 1929 to 1992

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1929Post officeThe Avenal post office opens
  3. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1992Born hereJose Ramírez is born here
By decade

Avenal, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Aerial view of Avenal, California in July 2022.jpg (2)2022Aerial view of Avenal, California in July 2022.jpg (2)Aerial view of Avenal, California in July 20222022Aerial view of Avenal, California in July 2022Hanford-Corcoran, CA, CA, USA - panoramio (4)2015Hanford-Corcoran, CA, CA, USA - panoramio (4)Avenal, California2015Avenal, CaliforniaAvenal, California2015Avenal, CaliforniaAvenal, California2015Avenal, CaliforniaAvenal State Prison2015Avenal State PrisonMonument to 1928 Elliott No 12011Monument to 1928 Elliott No 1
On the map

Avenal on the map, 1930 to 1950

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Avenal. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Avenal on the 1930 USGS mapAvenal on the 1950 USGS map1930Canoas Creek sheet · 1:31,680

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Avenal.

People over time

Avenal, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,0001960198020002020Peak: 15,505

Between 3,035 and 15,505 people in every census since 1950.

8 censuses, 1950–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Avenal’s Wikipedia page.

Questions about Avenal’s history

What year was Avenal founded?

The Avenal post office opened in 1929, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1979.

How does Avenal rank for history?

Avenal is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #569 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Avenal?

7% of Avenal’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1982.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.