The "BAHAY NA BATO" (stone house) which houses the museum was originally used as an arsenal during the Spanish period. It later became a detention cell of General Macario Sakay one of the last katipunero leaders who resisted the American Occupation in the Philippine American War. The building later evolved into a motor pool servicing the needs of the American soldiers and then get converted into a "BIGASANG BAYAN" (rice mill) by the prominent Tuazon family for their hacienda in the aftermath of World War 2. It was in 1998, recognizing the significant of this landmark edifice, when Chairman Bayani "BF" Fernando, then city mayor transformed the age-old structure into the very first Marikina Museum-a window to the long surviving shoe industry.

Dedicated to the unflagging hard work and ingenuity of the Marikeños, the Marikina Shoe Museum serves as a momento of the world-class craftsmanship and innate good taste of a city renowned for being the Shoe Capital of the Philippines.

The First and only Footware Museum in the country it boasts of an expensive shoe collection donated by well-known personalities-politicians, celebrities, athletes, artists, global leaders and even controversial figures.

From the elegant and imeldific size 778 pairs of size 9 shoes owned by the Former First Lady imelda Marcos, to the size 5 conservative no nonsense office shoes of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, one would simply be amazed that a pair of shoes can tell a person's lifestyle and personality.