When it opened on April 9, 1936, Rockaway Avenue was the terminal for IND Fulton Street Line.

[2] During this time, there was a diamond crossover between the express tracks north of the station, and trains stub ended here.

Between the express and local tracks in the area of the crossover were extra columns to support the subway ceiling to make up for the lack of columns that would have been between the express tracks, which were not built due to the installation of the crossover.

Construction on the Fulton Street Line east of Rockaway Avenue was halted in 1942 due to World War II restrictions on materials.

Small tile captions reading "ROCKAWAY" in white lettering on a black background run below the trim line, and directional signs in the same style are present below some of the name tablets.