The station was opened on 23 February 1903, three weeks after line 2 was extended from Anvers to Bagnolet (now Alexandre Dumas) on 31 January 1903.

The steel pillars and tunnel exits incorporate stained glass windows which sit atop white and flat ceramic tiles.

On the platform in the direction of Nation, part of the glass supports a stained glass work consisting of abstract patterns, dominated by the blue-white-red French flag, depicting the crowd that seized the Bastille prison on 14 July 1789, which is represented in white in the centre of the work.

[6][1] The presence of this window in this station is explained by the proximity of the quays of Valmy and Jemappes, whom reference two decisive victories of the revolutionary wars following the overthrow of the French Monarchy.

At the corner of the canopy and the piers, ivies were planted in 2017 by Les Jardins de Babylone as part of the revegetation of RATP spaces.