This station was among the last to feature the 22-coffer "waffle" ceiling vault design among Benning Road, Capitol Heights, Federal Center SW, Navy Yard–Ballpark, and Shaw-Howard University.

Plans for rapid transit prior to the creation of WMATA in February 1967 focused on the needs of commuters while neglecting some of the District's less affluent neighborhoods.

[2]: 106  Riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 destroyed much of the commercial district around 14th and U Streets and planners hoped that adding a subway stop in that area would stimulate redevelopment.

On June 10, 2001, Metro Transit Police Officer Marlon C. Morales was killed in the line of duty at this station, while intervening in a fare dispute.

[5] Since May 7, 2023, the northeastern terminus of the Yellow Line was truncated from Greenbelt to Mount Vernon Square, following its reopening after a nearly eight-month-long major rehabilitation project on its bridge over the Potomac River and its tunnel leading into L'Enfant Plaza.