In 1958 a group of devoted people undertook the work of systematic collecting of the documents connected to the past of Rákospalota. The third institution of the kind in Budapest obtained official permission for operation in 1960, under the name of Museum of Rákospalota. The museum has had the biggest collection of local history ever since. At present it operates as a part of Csokonai Cultural Centre.

Largest part of the collection is formed by agricultural tools and devices, and folk items such as clothing, furniture and ceramics. As far as the extent is concerned, this collection is followed by that of industrial history items from the fields of carpenter, smith, shoemaker etc. professions.

Most of the art works are the works of artists that lived in the area. A separate unit in the museum is the so-called Madarász inheritance, which was presented to the museum by the artist's daughter and her heiress. The collection lists 21 paintings of the artist, pieces of furniture from his flat in Paris, photographs, written materials and works of Bertalan Székely together with others.

Our materials of local interest involve various documents (invoices, contracts, books, newspapers, boards), maps, drafts, photographs, postcards, video and audio tapes (interviews, events), films and data recorded on disks. Our oldest item is from 1770, but we collect and keep modern, up-to-date materials, too.