Marquette's urban area extends south toward the community of Harvey and west toward Negaunee and Ishpeming, at the base of the Huron Mountains.

Three men participated in organizing the firm: Robert J. Graveraet, who had prospected the region for ore; Edward Clark, agent for Waterman A. Fisher of Worcester, Massachusetts, who financed the company, and Amos Rogers Harlow.

On August 21, 1850, the name was changed to honor Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary who had explored the region.

A second post office, named Carp River, was opened on October 13, 1851, by Peter White, who had gone there with Graveraet at age 18.

[14] During the 1850s, Marquette was linked by rail to numerous mines and became the leading shipping center of the Upper Peninsula.

The first ore pocket dock, designed by an early town leader, John Burt, was built by the Cleveland Iron Mining Company in 1859.

Visitors brought in by Great Lakes passenger steamships filled the city's hotels and resorts.

About 7.9 million gross tons of pelletized iron ore passed through Marquette's Presque Isle Harbor in 2005.

[15] The Roman Catholic Bishop Frederic Baraga is buried at St. Peter Cathedral, which is the center for the Diocese of Marquette.

Lakeview Arena, an ice hockey rink in Marquette, won the Kraft Hockeyville USA contest on April 30, 2016.

[16] The arena received $150,000 in upgrades, and hosted the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes on October 4, 2016, in a preseason NHL contest.

In addition to the Marquette #1 Post Office, there is the "Northern Michigan University Bookstore Contract Station #384".

[17] The first day of issue of a postal card showing Bishop Frederic Baraga took place in Marquette on June 29, 1984,[18] and that of the Wonders of America Lake Superior stamp[19] on May 27, 2006.

The climate is a hemiboreal humid continental (Köppen: Dfb) with four distinct seasons that are strongly moderated by Lake Superior and is located in Plant Hardiness zone 5b.

Winter temperatures are slightly warmer than inland locations at a similar latitude due to the release of the heat stored by the lake, which moderates the climate.

[26] Being located in the snowbelt region, Marquette receives a significant amount of snowfall during the winter months, mostly from lake-effect snow.

Because Lake Superior rarely freezes over completely, this enables lake effect snow to persist throughout winter, making Marquette the third snowiest location in the contiguous United States as reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with an average annual snowfall of 149.1 inches or 3.79 meters.

[26] Marquette is the city with the deepest snow depths with a population of more than 20,000 in the United States (and one of the largest in North America outside the western Cordillera or eastern Canada), as temperatures remain low throughout the winter and cold, dry air is intercepted by the Great Lakes.

[26] Spring and fall are transitional seasons that are generally mild though highly variable due to the alternation of air masses moving quickly.

[25] Marquette receives 30.2 in (767 mm) of precipitation annually, which is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, though September and October are the wettest months with February and March being the driest.

[29] The City of Marquette has received national attention for its measures to adapt to climate change, such as coastline restoration and moving portions of Lakeshore Boulevard which are flooded by Lake Superior 100 yards inland.

A county task force has created a guidebook in cooperation with the University of Michigan for landscaping which can reduce the habitat for disease-bearing ticks.

A federally funded stormwater drain project will route runoff which flows into Lake Superior into restored wetlands.

"[39] Amenities include a wooden band shell for concerts, a park pavilion, a gazebo, a marina, a concession stand, picnic tables, barbecue pits, walking/skiing trails, playground facilities, and Moosewood Nature Center.

McCarty's Cove is flanked by a red U.S. Coast Guard Station lighthouse on its south shore.

The Marquette Golf Club has brought international recognition to the area for its unique and dramatic Greywalls course, opened in 2005.

The course features several panoramic views of Lake Superior and winds its way through rocky outcroppings, heaving fairways and a rolling valley, yet is located less than two miles (3.2 km) from the downtown area.

The combination of hilly terrain (a 600-foot (180 m) vertical difference from top to bottom) and large area snow falls makes snowboarding and downhill skiing a reality on the edge of town.

The system operates out of a transit center in the adjacent Marquette Township in addition to a small transfer station in downtown.

Marquette has limited freight rail service by the Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad (LS&I).