Located at the intersection of St. Nicholas Avenue and 181st Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

It is one of three stations in the Fort George Mine Tunnel, which carries the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line under Washington Heights, and is 120 feet (37 m) below ground level.

[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.

[3]: 5 [7]: 257  The tunnel was dug through the hard rock under Washington Heights, with work proceeding from either end as well as from construction shafts.

[18][19] The opening of the subway transformed the sparsely populated area into a growing neighborhood with apartment buildings and thriving business district along 181st Street.

[20] After the first subway line was completed in 1908,[21] 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.

[25] On June 25, 1909, the New York City Board of Estimate approved an appropriation of $160,000 (equivalent to $5,425,778 in 2023) for the installation of four additional elevators on the northern end of the uptown platform.

[29] On February 3, 1913, the PSC was informed that the IRT had let a contract to construct an additional elevator at the station, which would be completed in April.

[31] To address overcrowding, in 1909, the PSC proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.

[32]: 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.

[33]: 15  The northbound platform at the 181st Street station was extended 176 feet (54 m) to the north; timbering was used to support the arched ceiling during the extension work, thereby allowing it to retain structural integrity.

[36] On March 10, 1925, members of a committee of the Cheskchamay Democratic Club of the 23rd Assembly District requested that the New York City Board of Transportation (NYCBOT) construct additional elevators at 180th Street and 182nd Street on the west side of St. Nicholas Avenue to reduce congestion at the station's six elevators.

[35] A contract for the platform extensions at 181st Street and eight other stations on the line was awarded to Spencer, White & Prentis Inc. in October 1946,[40] with an estimated cost of $3.891 million (equivalent to $60,795,215 in 2023).

[50] Additionally, in Fiscal Year 1959, two elevators in the station were replaced with automatic ones that could travel at higher speeds.

[64] The attendants at the five stations are primarily maintenance and cleaning workers who suffered injuries that made it hard for them to continue doing their original jobs.

[71][72] MTA employees had joined riders in worrying about an increase in crime as a result of the cuts after an elevator operator at 181st Street on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line helped save a stabbed passenger.

However, on December 7, 2007, the MTA announced that it would not remove the remaining elevator operators at these stations, due to pushback from elected officials and residents from the area.

[74] In October 2018, the MTA once again proposed removing the elevator operators at the five stations, but this was reversed after dissent from the Transport Workers' Union.

[83] A $30 million (equivalent to $40,633,136 in 2023) repair of the 168th and 181st Street stations was to start in early 2012,[84][85] but was delayed by several months due to scheduling conflicts.

[87] The project received the 2018 Design Award of Excellence from the Society of American Registered Architects' New York chapter.

[88] This station was closed from December 5, 2020, to November 30, 2021, for elevator repair; this was accelerated from an original date range of March 2021 to February 2022.

Atop the brick wainscoting are a belt course made of marble and a multicolored mosaic frieze measuring about 16 inches (410 mm) thick.

Tile name tablets are placed above the frieze at regular intervals, with white letters on a dark background surrounded by floral designs.

The center of the vault ceiling has six multicolored terracotta medallions at regular intervals; these formerly held lighting fixtures.

[3]: 6  The walls of the platform extensions have white ceramic tiles with mosaic friezes as well as plaques with the words "181st Street / George Washington Bridge".

Columns near the platform edge, clad with white tile, support the jack-arched concrete station roof.