The Golden Driller is a 76 feet (23.2 m), 43500 pounds (19,731.3 kg) statue of an oil worker, in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

. Although it is claimed to be the largest free-standing statue in the world, there are many taller statues. It is currently the third tallest statue in the United States.

Overview

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 permanently installed in front of the Tulsa Expo Center

Tulsa Expo Center

The Tulsa Expo Center, since 2007 also called the QuikTrip Center, is the center of the Tulsa State Fair and one of the largest clearspan buildings in the world. The Expo Center provides of column-free space under a cable-suspended roof...

 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

Oil field

An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...

 in Seminole, Oklahoma

Seminole, Oklahoma

Seminole is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,899 at the 2000 census. Seminole experienced a large population growth in the 1920s due to an oil boom...

.

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

Oklahoma Legislature

The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the biennial meeting of the legislative branch of the government of Oklahoma. It is bicameral, comprising the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate, with all members elected directly by the people. The House of Representatives has 101...

 as the state monument.

As part of an online promotional contest sponsored by Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. Kimberly-Clark brand name products include "Kleenex" facial tissue, "Kotex" feminine hygiene products, "Cottonelle", Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, "KimWipes"...

 in October 2006, the Golden Driller was named the grand prize as a top ten "quirkiest destination" in the United States, winning its nominator a $90,000 international vacation for two.

See also

• List of statues by height
• List of the tallest statues in the United States

External links

• Expo Square - Home of the Golden Driller
• Golden Driller appearance in Zippy the Pinhead
  Zippy the Pinhead
  Zippy is an American comic strip created by Bill Griffith. The character of Zippy the Pinhead initially appeared in underground publications during the 1970s...
  
  comic strip from May 24, 2005