Delta Drilling Company. In response to the East Texas oil boom, Delta Drilling Company was founded in 1931 by Bob Stacy, Sam Dorfman, and Joseph Zeppa. Originally housed in an apartment at this site, the firm moved to Tyler in 1937. Delta drilled many of the oil wells that brought wealth to this part of the state and soon expanded over much of the western hemisphere and into parts of Africa and Europe. The enterprise now includes gas processing plants, exploration and production divisions, and has become a technological leader in land-based drilling operations. #9944