Early history

The first contract for the construction of a subway in New York, Contract 1, was executed on February 21, 1900, between the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners and the Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont, for the construction of the subway and a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line. Contract 1 called for the construction of a line from City Hall north to Kingsbridge and a branch under Lenox Avenue and to Bronx Park.^[6]

The initial segment of the IRT White Plains Road Line opened on November 26, 1904, between East 180th Street and this station. Initially, trains on the line were served by elevated trains from the IRT Second Avenue Line and the IRT Third Avenue Line, with a connection running from the Third Avenue local tracks at Third Avenue and 149th Street to Westchester Avenue and Eagle Avenue. Once the connection to the IRT Lenox Avenue Line opened on July 10, 1905, trains from the newly opened IRT subway ran via the line.^[7][8][9] Elevated service via this connection was resumed on October 1, 1907, when Second Avenue local trains were extended to Freeman Street during rush hours.^[8]

To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.^[10]: 168 As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $47.1 million in 2022) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to $15.7 million in 2022) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.^[11]: 15 The northbound platform at the Jackson Avenue station was extended 140 feet (43 m) to the front,^[11]: 114 while the southbound platform was not lengthened.^[11]: 106 On January 23, 1911, ten-car express trains began running on the White Plains Road Line.^{[10]: 168 [12]}

Later years

On July 1, 1917, a new connection between the White Plains Road Line and the Third Avenue elevated express tracks was opened as part of the Dual Contracts expansion of the Third Avenue Line, and since it ran via Bergen Avenue and bypassed the 149th Street station, it was called the Bergen Avenue cutoff or bypass. The Bergen Avenue cutoff was abandoned on November 5, 1946, as part of the gradual curtailment of elevated service on the IRT Third Avenue Line.^[8]

The New York State Transit Commission announced plans to extend the southbound platforms at seven stations on the line from Jackson Avenue to 177th Street to accommodate ten-car trains for $81,900 on August 8, 1934. The platform at Jackson Avenue would be lengthened from 351 feet (107 m) to 503 feet (153 m).^[13]

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[14][15] On June 13, 1949, the platform extensions at this station, as well as those on White Plains Road Line stations north to 177th Street, opened. The platforms were lengthened to 514 feet (157 m) to allow full ten-car express trains to open their doors. Previously the stations could only accommodate six-car local trains.^[16]

In March 1976, the token booth and a portion of the waiting area on the northbound platform were destroyed in a fire. In 1977, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) decided that it was not justified to fund the rebuild of the token booth and the cost of manning it due to the low number of entries at the platform. The NYCTA estimated that rebuilding the booth would cost $260,000 in 1980, and that $15,000 to $20,000 could be spent to install a temporary token booth, with $80,000 more to man the booth; this plan was subsequently abandoned, as it would require an estimated 570 entries per day for the booth to break-even.^[17] The NYCTA then installed a high-entry turnstile on this platform. At the time, there were at least a dozen more stations that had no token booth on one side of the tracks.^[17] While the northbound-platform station house was closed, riders were funneled directly to the exit stairs.^[18]: 5

Exits

Both platforms have an elevated Queen Anne style station house near their rears, and there are no crossovers or crossunders between the platforms.^[18]: 3 The station houses are staggered by about 200 feet (61 m).^[18]: 5 Designed by Heins & LaFarge, the station houses consist of steel framing topped by hip roofs. The center bay of each station house includes projecting dormers used for ventilation. The top of the center bay includes a decorated gable that is supported by corbels. The red metal roof overhangs the station house and contains fleur-de-lis ridge cresting. The interiors of each station house include a small wooden-floored waiting area, as well as a niche where there was formerly a radiator. There were also restrooms inside the station houses, but these were later converted to storage areas. C-shaped brackets support signage.^[18]: 4 The staircases from each station house to street level are covered by canopies and have elaborate handrails.^{[18]: 5–6}

On the Manhattan-bound side, doors from the platform lead to a small waiting area, where a turnstile bank provides entrance/exit from the station.^[18]: 6 Outside of fare control, there is a token booth and two sets of doors leading to two staircases facing in opposite directions that go down to the west side of Westchester Avenue. The platform has two exit-only turnstiles, each of which leads to either street staircase, to allow passengers to exit the station without having to go through the station house.^{[18]: 6 [19]}

The station house on the northbound platform is unstaffed. Four doors lead to a waiting area where two High Entry/Exit Turnstiles and one exit-only turnstile provide access to/from the station.^[18]: 5 Outside fare control, a set of doors lead to balcony where two double-flight, twisting staircases go down to the northeast corner of Westchester and Jackson Avenues. The platform has one exit-only turnstile leading to the staircase balcony.^{[18]: 5 [19]}