The 181st Street station (also known as 181st Street–Fort Washington Avenue) is a station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is located beneath Fort Washington Avenue in the Hudson Heights section of the Washington Heights neighborhood, between 181st and 184th Streets. The station is served by the A train at all times. The 181st Street station opened in 1932 and has two tracks and two side platforms. It is located near Bennett Park, the highest natural point in Manhattan. The station has two exits to Fort Washington Avenue: one at 181st Street and another across from Bennett Park. A third entrance is at 184th Street and Overlook Terrace at the bottom of the hill; elevators connect the Bennett Park and Overlook Terrace entrances. The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. History On December 9, 1924, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) gave preliminary approval to the construction of a subway line along Eighth Avenue, running from Chambers Street to 207th Street. The line included a tunnel under Fort Washington Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The BOT began constructing a station at 181st Street in 1928 as part of a subway expansion. Squire J. Vickers, the chief architect of the Dual System, helped design the 181st Street station. He was responsible for most stations on the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND), and, being a painter, he did tile work for the station. Robert Ridgway was hired as the chief engineer. The station opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the IND's initial segment, the Eighth Avenue Line between Chambers Street and 207th Street. Construction of the whole line cost $191.2 million. Service at this station was provided with express service from its onset. While the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line already provided service to Washington Heights, the new subway via Fort Washington Avenue made subway service more readily accessible. Soon after the station opened, a bus route running over the George Washington Bridge began connecting this station to Fort Lee, New Jersey, for a fare of five cents. The construction of the station spurred development in the surrounding area. Its opening resulted in the development of residential apartment buildings around the station. In December 1950, the New York City Board of Transportation issued a report concerning the construction of bomb shelters in the subway system in the midst