Eli Parsons Royce (November 29, 1820 – May 26, 1912) was an American surveyor in and around Green Bay, Wisconsin. He worked for various lumbermen, one who was Nelson Ludington a lumber baron that was doing work for a new railroad and harbor. The new harbor was the site of a new town later to be known as the city of Escanaba, Michigan. Royce surveyed the area for a layout of a new town as a pioneer and is considered the founder of Escanaba. There he was a businessman, surveyor, engineer, postmaster, and lawyer as well as their mayor.