George Washington Weidler (October 22, 1837 – September 19, 1908) was a 19th-century transportation agent, investor, and business owner in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon.

Born in Pennsylvania, he moved as a young man to St. Louis, Missouri, where he began a career in merchandising and shipping.

In Portland, Weidler worked as an agent for Ben Holladay and Henry Villard, both of whom controlled large transportation companies.

In 1855 he was put in charge of a mule-drawn wagon train, hauling goods to a new general store in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About two years later, he accepted an offer from transportation businessman Ben Holladay to act as purser on a steamboat based in San Francisco, California.

[1] He was an early investor in the Oregon Steam Navigation Company (OSN),[2] which controlled shipping and rights-of-way along the lower Columbia River.

In 1880 he set up a dynamo in his sawmill and became the first person to sell electric lighting in Portland when he ran a primitive transmission line to the nearby Ainsworth Dock in 1881.

Within three years he was instrumental in organizing the U.S. Electric Lighting and Power Co. which operated off of steam generated [sic] dynamos.

"[2][n 1] In 1891 the Oregon Legislative Assembly established the Port of Portland Commission to maintain shipping channels, a drydock, and other infrastructure and services related to maritime and commercial interests in the city.