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History · Marquette

Marquette dates to 1874, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1929 on, and the census since 1880.

1874founded
1on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Marquette’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Marquette began

When was Marquette founded?

1874

Marquette dates its founding to 1874 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 519 in 18802020 census: 429152 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1866.The full story ↓

What stands out about Marquette’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 923 in 1920; 429 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Marquette’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Marquette’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOld Pontoon Bridge North McGregor Iowa …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Marquette, census by census

02004006008001,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 923

Peaked at 923 in 1920; 429 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Marquette’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Marquette came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marquette.

Read it all →

Marquette is located directly across from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and the two cities are connected by U.S. Route 18, which crosses the river on the Marquette-Joliet Bridge. Effigy Mounds National Monument and the Yellow River State Forest are a few miles to the north. The city of McGregor is located just to the south. Marquette itself was originally incorporated as North McGregor in 1874, and it served as a railroad terminus for its southern neighbor.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Marquette in 1882

Passages that mention Marquette, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Marquette and his party discovered an Indian trail on the west¬ ern shore about a hundred miles below the mouth of the Wiscon¬ sin, and determined to trace it and form some acquaintance with the tribes of that region. After a walk of several miles, they came in sight of an Indian town, or village. …
History of Clayton County, together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships ... biographies of representative citizens1882 · page 91Read the page →
Read the text

Marquette and his party discovered an Indian trail on the west¬ ern shore about a hundred miles below the mouth of the Wiscon¬ sin, and determined to trace it and form some acquaintance with the tribes of that region. After a walk of several miles, they came in sight of an Indian town, or village. Commending them¬ selves to God, they made themselves known by a loud cry. Four old men met them and conducted them into the village. They were presented to the council, and Marquette preached to them of

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Marquette, 1866 to 1949

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe North McGregor post office opens
  3. 1874
    FoundingMarquette is established
  4. 1891In the archiveOld Pontoon Bridge North McGregor Iowa 1885
  5. 20th century
  6. 1920Post officeThe North McGregor post office closes
  7. 1920Post officeThe Marquette post office opens
  8. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 923
  9. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1949BuiltEffigy Mounds National Monument is built
By decade

Marquette, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Old Pontoon Bridge North McGregor Iowa 18851891Old Pontoon Bridge North McGregor Iowa 1885
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
20150816 35 Canadian Pacific RR201520150816 35 Canadian Pacific RRMarquette IA2005Marquette IAMississippi River IA2004Mississippi River IAIAMap-doton-Marquette2004IAMap-doton-MarquetteLonely loco2002Lonely loco
On the map

Marquette on the map, 1929 to 1967

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Marquette. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Marquette on the 1929 USGS mapMarquette on the 1932 USGS mapMarquette on the 1967 USGS map1929Prairie Du Chien sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Marquette.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Old Pontoon Bridge North McGregor Iowa 1885
Retake this viewOld Pontoon Bridge North McGregor Iowa 1885, 1891

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Marquette’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Marquette

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Effigy Mounds National Monument, built 1949
Districts
Effigy Mounds National MonumentBuilt 1949

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Marquette

Nobody well known was born in Marquette itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Clifford D. SimakAmerican writer, journalist · b. 1904
W
Walter Bradford CannonAmerican physiologist · b. 1871
Anne Sewell YoungAmerican astronomer · b. 1871
Asle GronnaAmerican politician · b. 1858
Althea ShermanAmerican ornithologist, artist and educator · b. 1853
D
Dorothy M. JohnsonAmerican writer · b. 1905
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Marquette’s post office has been open since 1920. Another post office, North McGregor, opened and closed inside today’s town.

North McGregor
1866–1920
Marquette
1920–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
West Yards

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

McGregor6 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Marquette’s history

What year was Marquette founded?

In 1874, according to Wikidata. Marquette’s post office opened in 1866, and the census of 1880 counted 519 people here.

What is on the National Register in Marquette?

One place: the Effigy Mounds National Monument (listed 1966).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.