19th century The Flushing–Main Street station was originally built in December 1853 as the
Flushing station by the
New York and Flushing Railroad, but not opened until June 26, 1854. Flushing served as the terminus of the NY&F until October 30, 1864 when a subsidiary known as the
North Shore Railroad extended it to
Great Neck, and it was burned in order to prepare for a second station that was built between January and February 1865. In 1868, the station and the rest of the line were acquired by the
Flushing and North Side Railroad, which razed the second station in 1870 and built a third station between October and November 1870. The station was renamed after both Flushing and Main Street, in order to distinguish itself from the former
Flushing Bridge Street station that ran along the F&NS's
Whitestone Branch, which was abandoned by the LIRR in 1932. During the mid-1870s, the station and the rest of the line merged with the
Central Railroad of Long Island to form the
Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad, and then became part of the Port Washington Branch of the
Long Island Rail Road, which also used the station as the eastern terminus of the
White Line between 1873 and 1876.
20th century Shortly after the line was electrified on October 22, 1912, the station was abandoned on November 11, 1912, as part of an effort by the Long Island Rail Road to bring the Port Washington Branch above and below street level depending on the location. In Flushing, the station was elevated along with the rest of the tracks on October 4, 1913. Prior to that point, the line ran at grade and went through a tunnel under a girls' school, just east of where the Main Street overpass stands today. The tunnel and the school were torn down to build the overpass and the open cut through which the line now runs. In 1958, the elevated track level building was razed and replaced with a street level ticket office. Sheltered platforms exist on both sides of the tracks in the former station's place, and the sidewalks beneath the bridge serve local businesses.
21st century The
Metropolitan Transportation Authority extensively renovated the station in the 2010s, bringing it into compliance with the 1990
Americans With Disabilities Act. According to the description of the $24.6 million project, one elevator was built from each platform to street level, and various components of the station were renovated. A one-story commercial building on the west side of Main Street was demolished and replaced by a station house with an elevator, which provided more direct access to the westbound platform. On October 28, 2013, the MTA held a public hearing on the proposed acquisition of private property at 40-36 Main Street in Flushing for the purpose of adding an elevator intended for the rebuilt station. By June 2015, design had been completed and one of the two parcels of private property, a food stall, had been acquired. The MTA expected to complete the eminent domain acquisition of Ou-Jang Supermarket's 40-36 Main Street property by summer 2015; the supermarket objected to the amount offered by the MTA, $974,592. On January 6, 2016, filings in Queens County Superior Court showed that MTA and the supermarket reached a settlement of $2,236,600, of which $1.9 million was the cash purchase price and the remainder represented rent to be paid by MTA on behalf of the supermarket at its new location. The MTA began in July 2016 and planned to complete the project by the 4th quarter of 2017. In December 2015, the MTA had put the project out for competitive bidding with a proposal due date of that December 9. On July 22, 2016, the ticket office was closed as part of the two-year renovation project along with the staircase to the eastbound platform with a temporary staircase and platform extension providing access. The current staircase to the city-bound platform was closed for renovation upon the opening of a new staircase and elevator. Completion of the project was set for early 2018; as of summer 2018, the elevators had been completed. ==Station layout==