Located at the intersection of Broadway and 145th Street in Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 trains at all times.

The 145th Street station was constructed for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as part of the city's first subway line, which was approved in 1900.

[4]: 21  However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act.

It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx.

[4]: 161 The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,[6] under which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.

[5]: 4  Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.

[4]: 186 [10] As late as October 26, 1904, the day before the subway was scheduled to open, the walls and ceilings were incomplete.

[13]: 191 [14] After the first subway line was completed in 1908,[15] the station was served by West Side local and express trains.

Express trains began at South Ferry in Manhattan or Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, and ended at 242nd Street in the Bronx.

[17] To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.

[18]: 168  As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains.

[21] A contract for the platform extensions at 145th Street and eight other stations on the line was awarded to Spencer, White & Prentis Inc. in October 1946,[24] with an estimated cost of $3.891 million.

Additional columns between the tracks, spaced every 5 feet (1.5 m), support the jack-arched concrete station roofs.

[37] Just south of the station lies the underground 137th Street Yard, which is visible from passing trains.

[37] Both platforms have same-level fare control containing a bank of turnstiles, token booth, and staircases to the street.