A town in the middle of nowhere, and everything

AVENAL, CA - NOVEMBER 16, 2016: Karina Hernandez, 16, twirls as she tries on a dress for her friends concertina at a shop on East King Street, in the city of Avenal, Kings County, Ca November 16, 2016. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles)  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Moe Abdulla, 21, sweeps in front of Amigos mini-mart on East King Street in Avenal.

Christmas decorations are going up on East King Street in the city of Avenal.

In the 1980s, struggling economically, Avenal became the first of several valley towns to petition successfully for a state prison.

Mayor Harlan Casida says Arenal is “the self-proclaimed pistachio capital of the world. I don’t know what it takes to qualify for that, but there’s a ton of pistachios around us. And nobody has complained so far.”

Jose Palma, 22, holds his 2-month-old daughter Elyanna in front of a shop on East King Street in Avenal.

Janexsis Navarro, 11, left, and Sophia Aguirre, 5, race down a sidewalk in Avenal, where Spanish is now the predominant language in the shops in the business district.

Edna Ivans, 88, serving her plate at a Rotary Club potluck, was an early proponent of bringing a prison to Avenal.

Inside a shop on East King Street in Avenal.