Hugh S. Davis built the Blue Whale on the family pond at Catoosa after years of making the property a place for swimming, canoeing, fishing, picnicking, skating, and projects with his children and grandchildren. After retiring from the Tulsa Zoo, he devoted his time to educational attractions there, including the Ark, the Alligator Ranch, and Nature's Acres, then in the late 1960s began designing a giant whale that grew from sketches into an 80-foot-long, 20-foot-tall structure. With help from his friend Harold Thomas, who welded the iron framework, Davis spent 1970 to 1972 building it and worked 2,920 hours hand-mixing and applying cement. By July 1972, even before it was painted, people were climbing on it, sliding down its fins, and enjoying the grounds, and it became one of the best-loved icons on Route 66. Families came daily except on Mondays or in rain to swim, picnic, and fish until the Blue Whale closed in 1988 because of Davis's crippling arthritis. Davis died on January 11, 1990, his wife Zelta, who had received the Whale as an anniversary gift, died on August 1, 2001, and after ownership passed to Dee Dee Belt and her husband Dick, Blaine and his sons John and Paul maintained the grounds and kept the gates open until the City of Catoosa purchased the Blue Whale on April 1, 2020.
