The Golden Driller

Tulsa rose on oil. When major fields came in nearby in the early 1900s, the town boomed into a center of the petroleum industry, and for a time it called itself the Oil Capital of the World. The fortunes made here built the city's remarkable stock of Art Deco skyscrapers, mansions, and civic buildings, a golden age written into brick and stone.

To celebrate and promote that industry, Tulsa hosted the International Petroleum Exposition, a huge trade show that drew oil people from around the globe. The Golden Driller was created for that exposition, first appearing in the 1950s and taking its permanent, larger form in 1966 as a lasting emblem of the show and the industry it honored.

The statue as it stands today was erected in 1966, built to endure. Its frame is steel and concrete, engineered to withstand the high winds that sweep the Oklahoma plains, and its surface is finished in the golden color that gives it its name. The figure rests one hand on an oil derrick relocated from a nearby field, a real piece of the industry incorporated into the monument.

At seventy-six feet the Golden Driller towers over its surroundings and ranks among the tallest freestanding statues in the country. The State of Oklahoma later designated it an official state monument, cementing its status not just as a Tulsa curiosity but as a recognized symbol of the state's oil heritage.

For generations of Tulsans and travelers, the Golden Driller has been a landmark and a photo stop, its friendly, oversized figure impossible to miss on the fairgrounds. It has become a canvas for civic celebration too, occasionally dressed up for local sports teams and events, and it holds a warm place in the city's affection as a homegrown giant.

As a piece of roadside Americana, it fits Tulsa's location on Route 66, the Mother Road that runs through the city. Alongside the neon signs, vintage motels, and classic diners of the old highway, the Golden Driller is a must-see for road-trippers, a bold monument that captures the optimism and swagger of the oil age.

The Golden Driller is a fitting introduction to a city full of oil-era treasures. Downtown Tulsa holds one of the finest collections of Art Deco architecture in the country, from ornate churches to sleek skyscrapers, all funded by the wealth the statue celebrates. The Philbrook and Gilcrease museums, both born of oil fortunes, hold world-class art collections.

Tulsa's story is also a complex and important one. The Greenwood district, once known as Black Wall Street, was a thriving Black community devastated in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, a history the city now works to remember and honor. A visit to see the Golden Driller opens onto a city with far more depth than its cheerful giant first suggests.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.