The station was opened in 1935. It opened with a passimeter for quick sale of tickets and in the off peak collection of tickets from one side and sale from the other. A ticket collectors position was provided with stable door, now a bin store. A ticket office was also provided to deal with parcels and also had the electrical fuses and switches. Now a shop, switch room, and computer room. The station had central heating supplied by a coal boiler under the booking hall, a coal chute from a street manhole was used to supply coal. The boiler was later converted to gas, all removed when the new ticket office was built opposite for the Underground ticket system.
The station is named after the mid-1930s planned community of Elm Park, in which it is situated. It is located on The Broadway, in the London Borough of Havering. The immediate area is a busy, compact shopping district surrounded by extensive residential development to the north and south.
District Line seriees; cache is a magneitic 35mm pot holding a log, pencil and a 'Giorginio' logo token.