In 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1873, what eventually would become Marquette began on the banks of the Smoky Hill River with a flour mill.

[9] On April 14, 2012, a large EF4 tornado would pass to the west of Marquette, sweeping a home away leaving an empty foundation and a small staircase, and there were no fatalities or injuries.

Erosion of those strata has left hills and buttes which rise sharply about the surrounding plains.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.44 square miles (1.14 km2), all of it land.

[10] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters.

[11] In May 2003, facing a declining population, Marquette was the first of at least ten other Kansas cities, including Ellsworth, Kanopolis, Holyrood and Wilson, who offer free land to attract residents.

Fifty acres (200,000 m2) of what used to be farmland were developed, furnished with gravel streets, water, electric, sewer and gas hookups.

[citation needed] The 2020 United States census counted 599 people, 274 households, and 161 families in Marquette.

As of the census[24] of 2000, there were 542 people, 243 households, and 157 families residing in the city, a decline from the total 1990 population of 593.

Marquette is a town that is offering parcels of residential land for free on the condition that the recipient build a home within a specified deadline.

[28] The downtown has a block of late 19th century stores that have been restored and repainted to their original colors.

It is named after Hans Hanson, one of the city founders, and has been restored to its original appearance and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Located in the backyard of the home is Hanson's original 1871 wood-frame cabin, where the city charter was signed.

[30] The downtown area includes the Range School Museum, a one-room 1906 schoolhouse moved there about eighty years later.

It was founded in 2004 by National Racing Champion, "Stan the Man" Engdahl, a native of Marquette.

Game includes pheasant, quail, prairie chickens, deer, beaver, wild turkey, squirrels, rabbits, coyotes and waterfowl; fishing for white bass and crappie is popular.

The community is served by Smoky Valley USD 400 public school district.