Portal:Oklahoma

The Golden Driller is a 76 foot tall (23 meter), 43,500 pound statue of an oil worker, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is claimed to be the “largest free standing statue in the world.” 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 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.” (Read more . . . )

Oklahoma City is the capital of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city is the 30th largest in the U.S.. The city’s estimated population as of 2006 was 537,734, with a 2006 estimated population of 1,172,339 in the metropolitan area. Founded during the Land Run of 1889, Oklahoma City was the site of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, the largest act of terrorism on American soil prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in American history.

By the time Oklahoma was admitted to the Union in 1907, Oklahoma City had already supplanted Guthrie, the territorial capital, as the population center and commercial hub of the new state. Soon after, the capital was moved from Guthrie to Oklahoma City. Oklahoma City was a major stop on Route 66 during the early part of the 20th century and was prominently mentioned in Bobby Troup’s 1946 jazz classic, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66,” later made famous by Nat King Cole. (Read more…)

• …that Tulsa is often considered the birthplace of U.S. Route 66?
• …that Oklahoma has the longest drivable stretch of Route 66 in the nation?
• …that in 1927, Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery, known the “Father of Route 66,” proposed using an existing stretch of highway from Amarillo, Texas to Tulsa for the original portion of Highway 66?
• …that Oklahoman Cyrus Avery spearheaded the creation of the U.S. Highway 66 Association, the organization that oversaw the planning and creation of Route 66, and he placed the organization’s headquarters in Tulsa?

Featured articles: Black Seminoles • Chickasaw Turnpike • Jim Thorpe • Oklahoma • Tulsa, Oklahoma • Woody Guthrie • Oklahoma City bombing • Brad Pitt

Featured lists: Oklahoma birds • Tallest buildings in Tulsa • List of tallest buildings in Oklahoma City • List of birds of Oklahoma • List of Oklahoma Sooners football seasons • List of Oklahoma Sooners head football coaches • List of Oklahoma Sooners in the NFL Draft

Oklahoma State Capitol building

• Nickname:The Sooner State
• Capital and largest city: Oklahoma City
• Governor: Kevin Stitt (R)
• Total area: 181,196 square kilometers (69,960 square miles)
• Population (2010 census): 3,751,351
• Date admitted to the Union: November 16, 1907
• Senators: James M. Inhofe (R), James Lankford (R)
• Representatives: Kevin Hern, Markwayne Mullin (R), Frank D. Lucas (R), Tom Cole (R), Kendra Horn (D)

State symbols

The Scissortail Flycatcher, Oklahoma’s state bird

• Mammal: Bison
• Bird: Scissor-tailed flycatcher
• Fish: White bass
• Floral emblem: Mistletoe
• Flower: Oklahoma Rose
• Grass: Indian grass
• Insect: Honeybee
• Tree: Redbud
• Fossil: Allosaurid dinosaur
• Rock: Rose Rock
• Soil: Port Silt Loam
• Song: Oklahoma!
• Beverage: Milk