Eli B. Ames (August 3, 1820 – February 12, 1897) was a lawyer, postmaster, judge, and Democratic politician who served as the fourth mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

When he was a child, his family moved to Ohio, later relocating to Ottawa, Illinois.

He later moved to Hennepin, Illinois, where he served as postmaster and later as a probate judge.

[1] After his term in the Illinois General Assembly, he worked as an aide to Joel Aldrich Mattesona.

[2] In 1857, he arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he started an insurance business.