The station opened February 16, 1941 as part of the Huntington Avenue tunnel, which was a Works Progress Administration project that eliminated streetcars from Boylston Street and Copley Square in order to ease congestion.

The tunnel ran from just west of Copley to just east of Opera Place, with intermediate stations near the major performance halls at Mechanics and Symphony.

A sub-passage connected the two platforms; it was sealed off in the early 1960s when the MTA converted the station to no longer need employees present.

Since their construction, Symphony and Prudential were the only two underground stops on the Green Line where riders paid upon boarding the train rather than when entering the station.

Passengers now pay with their CharlieCard or CharlieTicket at platform level when entering the station, and can board at any door to the train.

[citation needed] Symphony is one of a small number of MBTA subway stations - along with Bowdoin, Hynes Convention Center, and Boylston - which are not accessible.

Planning proved difficult due to the number of historic structures in the area, as well as utility and code issues.