Elisha Peyre Ferry (August 9, 1825 – October 14, 1895) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the first governor of Washington from 1889 to 1893.

On Washington's admission as a state on November 11, 1889, he became its inaugural governor, serving one term, stepping down in 1893 because of failing health.

Both as Surveyor and Governor, Ferry was closely involved with the building of the Northern Pacific Railway, and took a personal hand in planning the extension from Tacoma to Olympia.

As governor, Ferry was successful in putting the territory on a sound financial footing, by pressuring various counties to pay their taxes.

After a break from politics, working in Seattle in law and banking, Ferry was nominated as Republican candidate for the state governor, when Washington was granted statehood on November 11, 1889.

In his first summer, Ferry had to oversee reconstruction of three major cities that had been largely destroyed by fire: Seattle, Ellensburg, and Spokane Falls.

The prompt replacing of timber buildings with brick and stone gave reassurance to the increasing numbers of residents moving into the state, some of them interested in acquiring public land.

Ferry tried to manage the debate between supporters of business, wanting to privatize land (mainly people in the West of the state), and those who favored full public ownership (mainly in the East).

Following a costly fire, a local mining company had decided to cut expenses by replacing white mineworkers with black workers at lower wages.