It is close to Finsbury Park, which is one of the oldest of London's Victorian parks, and the Finsbury Park mosque. It is also used by many Arsenal supporters on matchdays, as the club's ground is just a short walk away, along Blackstock Road.
The underground station opened in February 1904 as the northern terminus of the Great Northern & City Railway. The Piccadilly tube opened its platforms just under three years later in December 1906. In 1964 the Northern City platforms closed and the southbound Piccadilly Line was diverted through one of the Northern City platforms. In 1968 the Victoria Line opened, using the two remaining platforms, allowing cross-platform interchange between the two lines in both directions. The southbound platform tunnels are larger than the northbound, having been built for the larger trains of the Northern City.