The station was opened by the North British Railway Company in 1874 on the north side of Dumbarton Road.

At some periods during its existence it was described as Partick for Govan in some timetables.

The station closed in 1979, when the Greater Glasgow Passenger Transport Executive were reopening the Argyle Line (itself a victim of the Beeching axe), they decided to open a new Partick railway station on the same site as Merkland Street subway station, which was itself undergoing refurbishment as part of the overall upgrade of the Glasgow Subway that was undertaken in the late 1970s.

With this new Partick station, which worked as an interchange with bus and subway services being separated by only a bridge over Dumbarton Road from the site of the Partickhill station it was decided that the Partickhill site was now redundant and the station closed.

Much of its structures are still visible to the present day, including the platforms.