Marikina's history provides an interesting glimpse into the events that helped shape its evolution. The Augustinians were the first to arrive at the Marikina Valley in 1500, at the spot known as "Chorillo" in Barangka. Next came the Jesuits in 1630, in a place now called Jesus dela Peña (Jesus of the Rocks). Here, the Jesuits established a mission and built a chapel.
In 1687, this pueblo became a parish known as Mariquina. In 1901, with the coming of the Americans, its name officially became Marikina. The early settlers lived along the riverbanks and nearby fertile farms. With the industry of the natives, combined with the know-how of the early Chinese settlers, the farms began to produce rice and vegetables in great quantities until the valley became part of the country's most prized hacienda. By the 19th century, Hacienda Marikina was owned and administered by the Tuason family and had become the biggest in the Philippines. For its massive size, natural beauty, and plentiful harvest, the hacienda was declared a mayorazgo (royal estate) by the Spanish colonial government.
In 1887, Marikina's shoemaking industry began through the pioneering efforts of Don Laureano "Kapitan Moy" Guevarra, assisted by Tiburcio Eustaquio, Ambrocio Sta. Ines, and Gervacio Carlos. Kapitan Moy's worn-out pair of British shoes provided the creative spark: he took the shoes apart, painstakingly studied their components, and then made patterns out of them. After keenly observing the Chinese in Parian, Manila, he fashioned his own pair of shoes. With crude tools, raw materials, and the villagers' support, Kapitan Moy subsequently mastered the art of shoemaking.
By the turn of the 20th century, Marikina emerged as a town of shoemakers. Honed by years in shoe manufacturing, the natives quickly developed a work ethic that had prepared them for the arrival of heavy industries in the 1950s. With the proliferation of industrial plants came waves of workers who had chosen to stay, rapidly increasing the population. In no time, shoe manufacturing flourished into a multi-million-peso industry, earning for Marikina the moniker, "Shoe Capital of the Philippines".
On 11 June 1901, Marikina was incorporated in the newly created Province of Rizal by Act No. 137 of the Philippine Commission. In 1975, when the Metro Manila Commission was created under Presidential Decree No. 824, integrating four cities and 13 towns majority of which were in the province of Rizal, Marikina became part of Metropolitan Manila area.
