Marquand, situated along the banks of the Castor River and surrounded by the Mark Twain National Forest, nestles among the hills of the St. Francios Mountains. Indians inhabited the Castor River Valley for thousands of years, evidenced by the artifacts and mounds they left behind. The first white settlers in the area were the families of Captain Henry Whitener and Michael Mouser. Most of the earliest pioneers in the region were of German descent from North Carolina.
The town was named for H. G. Marquand, a railroad administrator, who was so attracted by the natural beauty of the area that he donated $1,000 for the construction of a church. The people were so overwhelmed by his generosity that they renamed their little town of Whitener Settlement in his honor. The Missouri Pacific Railroad operated a line through the town from 1869 to the early 1970's. A head-on collision between two trains occurred at the edge of town in 1911. A father was the engineer of one train and his son was the engineer of the other train. The father was killed in the wreck.
The Village of Marquand Historic Park is located in the center of town on former railroad property and the Sitzes Homestead has been relocated there and is in the process of being restored
