Captain George Edward Flavel was an Irish American maritime pilot and entrepreneur. Born in 1823 to Irish parents, Flavel relocated to the West coast of the United States in 1849, working as a tugboat operator between Sacramento and San Francisco, California. In 1851, he settled in the northern coastal port city of Astoria, Oregon, where he became one of the first licensed bar pilots in the state.

Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corner of Oregon, and Astoria is located on the south shore of the Columbia River, where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean. The city is named for John Jacob Astor, an investor and entrepreneur from New York City, whose American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site and established a monopoly in the fur trade in the early 19th century. Astoria was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 20, 1856.