Boston Corners was the first stop of the New York and Harlem Railroad in Columbia County, between Dover Plains (to the south) and the end of the line at Chatham (to the north), and was constructed between 1848 and 1852.

However, on January 3, 1855 the United States Congress annexed 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) from Massachusetts to New York.

In the early days of the development the area was known as "the Badlands" which was a spot where numerous fugitives would engage in illegal activities such as boxing and prize fights.

By the early 1870s the station also began to serve the Poughkeepsie and Eastern Railway and the Rhinebeck and Connecticut Railroad, both of which were eventually acquired by the Central New England Railway.

Freight continued running on the line until service north of Wassaic ceased on March 27, 1976.