Opened in 1971, the station was covered by a large parking garage which was closed in 2012 due to structural problems and removed several years later.

[10][14] Although the South Shore Line was planned to extend to Braintree and possibly even to Holbrook or Brockton, it was temporarily terminated at Quincy Center due to disagreements about station locations and other issues.

[1] The other two stations had large surface lots, but due to limited land availability, Quincy Center station included a 5-story parking garage located over the two tracks and single island platform, with 700 spots for Red Line riders and 200 spots for local shoppers.

Through the first half of the 20th century, Quincy was served by a number of Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway streetcar and bus lines, with both local routes and through service as far as Providence, Rhode Island.

Some routes continued through Quincy to Fields Corner via Hancock Street and Neponset Avenue.

When Quincy Center opened in 1971, most of the Fields Corner routes were cut back to the new terminus.

[21] This continued after Wollaston reopened in 2019, as parking was then limited at North Quincy station due to garage construction.

[22] On July 4, 2012, the Quincy Center parking garage was closed indefinitely due to structural issues.

[23] In March 2016, the city released preliminary plans for a replacement structure, paid for by a $970,000 federal grant.

[29] In October 2016, Quincy mayor Thomas Koch announced that the courthouse part of the proposal would be withdrawn due to local opposition and a lack of available state funds, but planning for the station and office building would continue.

[28] The MBTA will remove the former garage, replace the existing elevator, and add an accessible entrance to Burgin Parkway as a $25 million project lasting from July 2017 to December 2018, with future air rights development to come later.