The station originally opened on November 30, 1908 along with the rest of the Washington Street Tunnel. At this time, the Boston Elevated Railway's Main Line (which later became the Orange Line) was moved from the Tremont Street Subway into this new subway tunnel. As with the other stations of the Washington Street Tunnel, the platforms were largely separated and given different names - Boylston for the southbound platform, and Essex for the northbound side. On February 11, 1967, as part of a larger renaming of Orange Line stations, the entire station became Essex (to distinguish it from the Green Line's Boylston station to the west).