When the Ninth Avenue El was extended to Harlem in 1879[4] it terminated at 155th Street as a matter of geographic necessity (the hills of Washington Heights and Highbridge would have made a northward expansion difficult) and demand (northern Manhattan and the Bronx were still sparsely populated).
Development came to the area with the New York City and Northern Railroad (later known as the Putnam Division) building its terminal at 155th Street in 1881 and the Polo Grounds relocating to a site just west of the station in 1889.
On June 12, 1940, the el was closed entirely except for the portion from this station north to provide a connection from the Jerome Avenue Line to the Polo Grounds.
On May 29, 1958, the New York Central ceased operations on the Putnam Division, which rendered the shuttle unnecessary.
Three months later, at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 31, the shuttle was shut down and the elevated portion of the line demolished.