In April 1912, the New York Public Service Commission gave the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) the right to operate the proposed Clark Street Tunnel under the East River, between Old Slip in Lower Manhattan and Clark Street in Downtown Brooklyn.

[8] As part of the Dual Contracts, the New York City Public Service Commission planned to split the original IRT system into three segments: two north-south lines, carrying through trains over the Lexington Avenue and Broadway–Seventh Avenue Lines, and a west-east shuttle under 42nd Street.

[8] The Dual Contracts entailed building the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line south of Times Square–42nd Street.

[14] The Public Service Commission began soliciting bids for the William Street portion of the line in September 1914.

[19] The awarding of the contract was delayed by a dispute over whether gas mains should be carried on temporary overpasses above the tunnel's excavation site.

[13][14] The line was nearly completed by late 1917, but the signals and station finishes were incomplete due to World War I–related material shortages.

[34][35] During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the platforms at Wall Street, along with those at four other stations on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, were lengthened to 525 feet to accommodate a ten-car train of 51-foot IRT cars.

[41] South of here, the line travels under the East River via the Clark Street Tunnel to Brooklyn Heights.

It has a customer assistance booth with a bank of turnstiles and long passageway to a set of doors leading to the basement of 28 Liberty Street.

The passageway has an artwork called Subway Wall by Harry Roseman made in 1990 and installed after a 1993 station renovation.

This exit also has a set of doors to two escalators and a double-wide staircase that go up to the public atrium lobby of 60 Wall Street.

[44] The entrance at the northeast corner, outside 48 Wall Street, is made of ornate metal and has a sign reading "Interborough Rapid Transit Co-to All Trains."