Garden City station was originally built in 1872 by the Central Railroad of Long Island, which was built by Alexander Turney Stewart to bring visitors to the Garden City Hotel.

The original station was a typical one-story Victorian structure with a second story over the front door, and a back "porch" over high platforms.

A pedestrian tunnel was added in 1915,[5] which included an additional trolley along the Central Branch, and a removal of the eyebrow porch windows on the roof of the station house before 1918.

High-level platforms were added during the 1970s and a major restoration project took place in the early-21st Century.

Built in 1876, it is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and stands just south of the station on Cathedral Avenue.