 At one time, during the French First Republic, Sainte-Marie was known as "Roche-Peltier".The commune of Sainte-Marie was attached to that of Pornic on June 1, 1973 (under the terms of the Marcelin law of July 16, 1971).On May 16, 2006, the Sanmaritains voted for the complete amalgamation of the communes of Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer and Pornic with 50.83% of the vote in favour (with a difference of just 47 votes out of more than 2800 voters).