The original portion of the IRT station's interior is a New York City designated landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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.

[7] On March 14, 1903, the 59th Street station hosted a ceremony in which mayor Seth Low drove the first spike for the IRT subway's first track.

[11][4]: 186  The opening of the first subway line, and particularly the 59th Street station, helped contribute to the development of Columbus Circle and the Upper West Side.

[12]: 9 To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.

[13]: 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.

[13]: 168 As early as March 1914, local business owners and workers began advocating for the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station to be converted into an express stop.

Such a conversion would require underpinning the Columbus Monument directly above the station, as well as the relocation of a water main next to the subway line.

[26][27] On December 9, 1924, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) gave preliminary approval to the construction of a subway line along Eighth Avenue, running from 207th Street.

[48] In addition, relief panels would have been placed above the stairways leading to the northbound and southbound platforms, respectively depicting personifications of winter and summer.

[51][52] The arena plan, originally envisioned as a replacement for Madison Square Garden, ultimately evolved into the New York Coliseum convention center.

[53] As part of the unification of the New York City Subway system, the passageways between the IRT and IND stations were placed inside fare control on July 1, 1948.

[58][59] The conversion would entail constructing a separate island platform for express trains, similar to the arrangement at 34th Street–Penn Station, at a cost of $5 million.

[58][59] In March 1955, the NYCTA approved contracts with engineering firms for the design and construction of four projects across the subway system, including the conversion of the 59th Street station.

[69] A New York Times article attributed the development of the Coliseum and 2 Columbus Circle to the presence of the 59th Street station, which had increased the neighborhood's accessibility.

[70] The Gulf and Western Building (now the Trump International Hotel and Tower) was constructed on the north side of the circle in the late 1960s.

[71] As part of that project, a sunken circular plaza was built, with a large staircase leading to the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station and to the building's basement.

[72] Though the station had a direct entrance to the Gulf and Western Building, it lacked similar connections to 2 Columbus Circle or the Coliseum.

[73] By 1970, NYCTA officials ranked the Columbus Circle station as one of the twelve most congested places in the subway system, where trains suffered from significant delays due to overcrowding.

[75] The same year, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA), an MTA subsidiary that owned the Coliseum, spent $1 million on two escalators between the mezzanine and the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 58th Street.

[76] The escalators opened in October 1975 and were intended largely for patients of the nearby Roosevelt Hospital, but they initially were often out of service due to "repeated vandalism".

[84][85] The next year, a joint venture of Boston Properties and Phibro-Salomon Inc. was selected to redevelop the site as part of the Columbus Center project.

[109] As part of the project, two subway entrances opened at the northwest corner of 60th Street and Broadway in 2008, connecting with the downtown IRT platform.

[134][135] When the IND Eighth Avenue Line opened, the station was served by express (A) and local (AA) trains between Chambers and 207th Street.

[115] This station formerly had an artwork called Hello Columbus, installed in 1992 and made by various New York City artists and public school students.

A wide staircase from that plaza leads to the northern part of the IND mezzanine, adjacent to the north end of the northbound IRT platform.

[153] Two staircases from the northwest corner of Broadway and 60th Street descend to a fare control area leading to the southbound IRT platform.

[143]: 4 [153] There are two additional staircases from the median of Broadway between Columbus Circle and 60th Street, which also lead to a fare control area adjacent to the southbound IRT platform.

[154]: 3 The Deutsche Bank Center at the northwest corner of 58th Street and Eighth Avenue has an elevator, escalators, and a staircase descending to a fare control area.

[174][175] The stations on the Eighth Avenue Line were built with 600-foot (180 m) long platforms, but there were provisions to lengthen them to 660 feet (200 m) to accommodate eleven-car trains.