It was originally built in 1916 to 1918 as part of the Twin Peaks Tunnel, and is the oldest subway station west of Philadelphia and east of Istanbul.

Forest Hill Station was built in a "restrained classical revival"[4] style which has remained largely unaltered to the present.

Forest Hill and Eureka Valley stations were originally constructed with low platforms, as streetcars of that era had steps to load passengers from street level.

With Eureka Valley permanently closed, Forest Hill was left as the only low-platform station on the Muni Metro subway.

The $6 million project, which upgraded Forest Hill to equal the new stations while keeping its historic architecture, was completed in 1985.