The station was opened on July 1, 1977, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

The station provides service for only the Blue Line, and is located at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, underneath Memorial Drive.

[3] Its opening coincided with the completion of 11.8 miles (19.0 km)[4] of rail between National Airport and RFK Stadium and the opening of the Capitol South, Crystal City, Eastern Market, Farragut West, Federal Center SW, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom–GWU, L'Enfant Plaza, McPherson Square, National Airport, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Potomac Avenue, Rosslyn, Smithsonian, and Stadium–Armory stations.

[10] Arlington Cemetery is unique in its design, located just below ground level and only covered by a bridge carrying Memorial Drive.

Escalators from Memorial Drive go down two levels to the mezzanine, where customers may purchase SmarTrip cards at vending machines and pass through fare control.