Marmaduke was incorporated on August 2, 1909, and, by 1914, had expanded to include two drugstores, three banks, three restaurants, a Methodist and a Southern Baptist church, two barber shops, a hotel, a boarding house, and two dime stores.

At least half of the town was reported to have been destroyed or even flattened, and nearly every structure received some degree of damage.

In 2009, a major ice storm came across the northern part of Arkansas, causing the village, together with other regions, to lose electricity for a few weeks.

Arkansas Highway 34 crosses US 49 in the center of town; it leads east 5 miles (8 km) to Arkansas Highway 139 at Fritz and west 7 miles (11 km) to Lafe.

[3] Marmaduke is in the northern part of the Arkansas Delta physical region and sits just east of Crowley's Ridge.

The Missouri state line, following the St. Francis River, is 9 miles (14 km) to the east.

[5] As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,212 people, 496 households, and 358 families residing in the city.

The racial makeup of the city was 96.5% White, 0.1% Native American, 0.1% Asian and 1.6% from two or more races.