The station was opened on 7 October 1902 as part of the extension of Line 2 Nord from Étoile to Anvers.

The name of the street derives from Villa Externa (Latin for "external house"),[1] a medieval farm and residence of the Bishop of Paris outside the city, that became the name of the locality, which was originally part of Saint-Denis, then Neuilly, and was finally annexed by Paris in 1860.

[2][3] From the 1950s until 2007, the pedestals were covered with metallic camber with blue horizontal uprights and illuminated golden advertising frames, then completed with "shell" seats characteristic of the "Motte" style, in white.

The lighting canopies are white and rounded in the Gaudin style of the renouveau du métro des années 2000 revival, and the bevelled white ceramic tiles cover the walls, the tunnel exits and the outlets of the corridors.

The advertising frames are in white ceramic and the name of the station is written in a Parisine font on enameled plates.