The Golden Driller - Tulsa Oklahoma

The Golden Driller is a 76-foot-tall (23 m), 43,500-pound (19,700 kg) statue of an oil worker, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is the largest free-standing... more

by Deena Stoddard

Title

The Golden Driller - Tulsa Oklahoma

Artist

Deena Stoddard

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

The Golden Driller is a 76-foot-tall (23 m), 43,500-pound (19,700 kg) statue of an oil worker, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is the largest free-standing statue in the world, and the fourth tallest statue in the United States.

It was originally built in 1953 by the Mid-Continent Supply Company of Fort Worth for the International Petroleum Exposition. Six years later, it was temporarily erected again for the 1959 show. Due to the positive attention it attracted, the company donated the statue to the Tulsa County Fairgrounds Trust Authority which had it anatomically redesigned and permanently installed in front of the Tulsa Expo Center for the 1966 International Petroleum Exposition. The statue's right hand rests on an oil derrick which had been moved from a depleted oil field in Seminole, Oklahoma.

An inscription at the base of the statue reads: "The Golden Driller, a symbol of the International Petroleum Exposition. Dedicated to the men of the petroleum industry who by their vision and daring have created from God's abundance a better life for mankind."

In 1979, the Golden Driller was adopted by the Oklahoma Legislature as the state monument.

In the 1970's, my grandmother's house was just a couple of blocks from this location, and every year we went to visit her, we would pose for photos at or on one of his feet. I always referred to him as "The Big Man". I then carried on that tradition with my own children whenever we visited my mother and attended the Tulsa State Fair.



All images © 2011-2020 Deena Stoddard ~ All Rights Reserved

Uploaded

August 19th, 2014