Golden Driller, Tulsa (must see)

The Golden Driller is one of Tulsa’s most iconic figures-literally. Towering at 76 feet (23 meters) and weighing in at 43,500 pounds (nearly 20,000 kilograms), this massive statue of an oil worker stands proudly at the entrance of the Tulsa Expo Center. It’s the seventh-tallest statue in the United States and has become a lasting tribute to the region’s oil-rich history.

The Golden Driller began as a temporary installation, first constructed in 1952 by the Mid-Continent Supply Company of Fort Worth for the International Petroleum Exposition. It returned in 1959 and, due to its popularity, was redesigned and permanently installed in 1966. Its right-hand rests on a real oil derrick relocated from a depleted field in Seminole, Oklahoma.

The statue’s base includes a dedication: “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 Oklahoma Legislature officially adopted it as the state monument. That same year, its belt buckle inscription was changed from “MID-CONTINENT” to simply “TULSA.”

The Driller has a quirky side, too. In 2006, he was named one of the top ten quirkiest U.S. destinations in a Kimberly-Clark promotional contest, earning someone a $90,000 vacation. In 2020, during Tulsa’s campaign to host Tesla’s Gigafactory 5, the statue was humorously transformed into a tribute to Elon Musk, with “TESLA” temporarily replacing “TULSA” on the buckle and a wrap applied to mimic Musk’s likeness.

Fun fact: His “official” stats include a 48-foot belt size, shoe size 393DDD, and a hard hat size of 112. A smaller replica even made its way to Fraispertuis City amusement park in France, where it decorates a drop ride also named "Golden Driller."

A local legend, roadside oddity, and monument to Tulsa’s petroleum legacy, the Golden Driller stands tall-literally and figuratively-in Oklahoma’s cultural landscape.