Plans to build a light rail line to serve Portland's western suburbs in Washington County emerged in 1979 with a proposal from regional government Metro to extend what would become the Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) from its inaugural terminus in downtown Portland farther west to the cities of Beaverton and Hillsboro.

[3]: 2.1–4 [4] A majority of jurisdictions had selected a Sunset Highway light rail alternative by June 1982,[5] with the Portland City Council the last to adopt a resolution supporting this route in July 1983.

[6] Metro subsequently moved forward with this alternative, and the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) authorized $1.3 million in funds to begin a preliminary engineering study.

[7]: P-1 [9] Prior to the start of preliminary engineering efforts, the Portland City Council asked TriMet to consider building a rail tunnel through the West Hills instead of following the Sunset Highway alternative's proposal to run tracks on the surface alongside Canyon Road.

TriMet's engineers noted that this surface option would carry a steep six- to seven-percent grade as opposed to only two percent in a tunnel.

[13] These proposals were immediately met with opposition from West Hills residents who feared that tunneling activity would trigger landslides.

[14] The station was designed by the Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership (ZGF) architecture firm and built by Hoffman Construction Company, with engineering by Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The agency partnered with ZGF for the renovation, which included mounting energy-efficient LED lighting and installing patterned tiles along the platform-side and elevator lobby walls.

[16][17] The surface portion includes a public plaza named in honor of Les AuCoin, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives who supported the project.

This underground MAX station is served by one bus line, the Washington Park Free Shuttle, which now runs year-round[21] (since May 2019), after having been seasonal in the past.