In its origin, the municipality was simply named: Saint-Marc. In 1921, the municipality lost an important part of its territory for the creation of the new municipality of Saint-Amable. In 1980, the municipality of Saint-Marc changed its name to the current name of Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu.
On October 10, 2012, the municipality was reportedly the epicenter of an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale.[5]