The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT)'s Nassau Street Line station was also built under the Dual Contracts and opened on May 29, 1931.

[6]: 21  However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act.

[21] To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.

[22]: 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.

[37] The Public Service Commission began soliciting bids for the William Street portion of the line in September 1914.

[42] The awarding of the contract was delayed by a dispute over whether gas mains should be carried on temporary overpasses above the tunnel's excavation site.

[51] The line was nearly completed by late 1917, but the signals and station finishes were incomplete due to World War I–related material shortages.

[55][56] Also as part of the Dual Contracts, the BRT (after 1923, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT[57]) was assigned to construct and operate the Nassau Street Line.

[58][73] The project was 80 percent complete by April 1930,[74][72] and Charles Meads & Co. was awarded a $252,000 contract to install the Fulton Street station's finishes the next month.

[72][75][76] Later that year, a federal judge ruled that the city government did not have to pay the BMT $30 million in damages for failing to construct the Nassau Street Line.

[3] The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), the BOT's successor, announced plans in 1956 to add fluorescent lights to the Fulton Street station.

[110] The NYCTA also asked the city government in 1958 to provide $66,700 for a moving walkway connecting the IND and IRT platforms at Fulton Street.

Part of the grant was to be used for the renovation of several subway stations, including Fulton Street's IRT platforms, in 1982.

[122] The MTA attempted to replicate the original design of the Lexington Avenue Line platforms, even obtaining marble wainscoting from a Georgia quarry.

[130] In 1994, amid a funding shortfall, the administration of mayor Rudy Giuliani proposed delaying the IND station's renovation.

[137] Additionally, to reduce dwell times, the MTA started enforcing a policy that required conductors to close their doors after 45 seconds.

[124]: S.5 [141] Plans for a massive transit hub in Lower Manhattan, which was to incorporate the Fulton Street station, were first announced in January 2002.

[152] The MTA downsized the original plans for the transit center due to cost overruns,[153][154] and the agency partially funded the project using 2009 federal stimulus money.

[161] In January 2009, the MTA received $497 million in additional stimulus money, bringing the total cost of the Fulton Street Transit Center to $1.4 billion.

[158][171] In 2024, following several violent incidents in the subway system, the city government installed scanners in the Fulton Street station as part of a pilot program to detect weapons.

The stacked-staggered configuration of the BMT Nassau Street Line platforms splits the IND mezzanine levels into halves.

[173] The Sky Reflector-Net uses hundreds of aluminum mirrors to provide natural sunlight from a 53 ft (16 m) skylight to an underground area as much as four stories deep.

[179] Prior to the Fulton Center project, the mezzanine above the IND platform showcased an artwork by Nancy Holt, Astral Grating, which was installed in 1987 in conjunction with Lee Harris Pomeroy Architects.

[182] Astral Grating was the first artwork created by a female artist to be installed in the subway system through the MTA Arts & Design program.

[185] The Fulton Street station is close to several attractions such as St. Paul's Chapel and the World Trade Center.

[188]: 10  The original entrances at the northwest and northeast corners of Fulton Street and Broadway were replaced in 1933 when the IND station opened.

[189] Prior to the completion of Fulton Center, there was no access from ground level to the southern ends of the Lexington Avenue Line platforms.

[184] Prior to the construction of Fulton Center, the mezzanine had low ceilings and several bends, which caused congestion.

[71][76] Nassau Street is only 40 feet (12 m) wide at this point, so both levels' western and eastern walls are right next to the foundations of adjacent buildings.

In the original portion of the station, each pilaster is topped by blue-and-green tile plaques, which contain the letter "F" surrounded by a buff-yellow and blue-green Greek key carving.