The origin of the commune of the Villette was a Gallo-Roman village, which grew up on the Roman road that led to eastern Flanders.

Porte de la Villette opened on 5 November 1910 with the commissioning of the first section of line 7 from Opéra with service provided by all trains on the line until 18 January 1911, when a branch opened from Louis Blanc to Pré-Saint-Gervais, resulting in 1 of every 2 trains serving this branch.

As part of the "Un métro + beau" programme by the RATP, the station was renovated and modernised on 16 January 2002.

[3] An interchange with Paris tramway Line 3b opened on 15 December 2012, serving as its western terminus until its extension to Porte d'Asnières—Marguerite Long on 24 November 2018.

It is also where the sole connection to the La Villette workshops is in the métro, where equipment used to maintain the network (sleepers, switches, rails, etc.)