Construction on the segment of the line that includes Prospect Avenue started on December 20, 1909, and was completed in May 1912.

The station opened on June 22, 1915, as part of the initial portion of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line to 59th Street.

[12][13] Though the Transit Commission ordered the BMT to lengthen these platforms in September 1923, no further progress was made until February 16, 1925, when the New York City Board of Transportation (NYCBOT) commissioned its engineers to examine platform-lengthening plans for this and eleven other stations along the Fourth Avenue Line.

[19] In the 1960s, the NYCTA started a project to lengthen station platforms on its lines in Southern Brooklyn to 615 feet (187 m) to accommodate 10-car trains.

[21] Funding for the renovation projects came out of the NYCTA's 1969–1970 Capital Budget, costing $8,177,890 (equivalent to $67,946,000 in 2023) in total.

The latter change, which was also made to 15 other stations on the BMT Broadway and Fourth Avenue Lines, was criticized for being dehumanizing.

The NYCTA spokesman stated that the old tiles were in poor condition and that the change was made to improve the appearance of stations and provide uniformity.

[24][25] From January to May 2016, Grimshaw Architects worked on a design for the station's renovation, with Arup Group acting as a consultant.

[27] The station closed on June 5, 2017 for these renovations,[28][29][30] and reopened on November 2, 2017, a month ahead of schedule.

[38][8]: 854  The walls were intended to improve ventilation, as passing trains would push air forward, rather than to the sides of the tunnel.

The blue cinder block recessions installed in the 1970s were covered with small black mosaic tiles.

[44] Until the 2017 renovations,[45] they had their original trim line, colored brown with "P" at regular intervals, a bank of turnstiles, and token booth.