The station opened as part of the former Line 2 South on 24 April 1906, when it was extended from Passy to Place d'Italie.

Saint-Jacques station was one of a number of Paris locations of Stanley Donen's 1963 film Charade, starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn.

In the Middle Ages it became the pilgrimage route of St James (French: Saint-Jacques) from Paris to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

[1][2] The only access to the station is on the central Boulevard Saint-Jacques, at the junction with the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques and La Tombe-Issoire.

In the direction of Charles de Gaulle–Étoile, the tracks enter underground at the exit of the station, while, towards Nation, they rise above the ground.