The station was opened on December 1, 1979, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

[3] There is an underpass providing access to the Omsted Building on the south side of Clarendon Boulevard.

[11][12][13] Similar to many of the stations opened at the same time, Clarendon uses a side platform setup with two tracks.

Architecturally, as part of the first generation of underground stations, the "waffle" coffer style predominates at Clarendon.

Clarendon station is quite shallow, so much in fact that there is a staircase in between the two escalators that reach street level.