The station's exact opening date is not certain, but it is known that the station opened between 1909 and 1911. The station was primarily built to serve the workers of the former Atlantic Terra Cotta factory, from where the station name originated. The pedestrian overpass was built in the 1930s. There used to be a grade crossing adjacent to the station, and at least until the 1970s, a small shanty that protected it still existed. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority purchased and gained control of the Staten Island Rapid Transit in 1971, and started to modernize the rail line. The stations on the line were modernized again in the 1990s, with the exception of Atlantic, and the nearby Nassau station, which also was built to serve a factory. As a result, these two stations were the only visual remains of a time when the SIRT built new platforms in the 1960s during a multi-phase grade elimination project farther north but without adding new canopies or shelters at these stops. Instead, these two stations were set to be replaced with a new ADA-accessible station in between the two at Arthur Kill Road. However, the funds required for the construction of the project were not available, pushing back the construction of the project to 2013. Construction on the replacement Arthur Kill station commenced in October 2013, and after several delays was opened on January 21, 2017. Once the new station opened, Atlantic closed, and in May 2017, it was demolished.
Station layout
Located roughly at Fisher Avenue and Arthur Kill Road on the main line, it was at grade level with side platforms approximately long that could hold only one car. Former operations before the station closed only had the last car stop at the platform. Prior to its demolition, the station still had pre-1990s SIRT station components—steel corrugated walls, overpasses and original -high station pipe railings with faded signs. Access to the northbound platform was via the short dead-end Tracy Avenue off of Arthur Kill Road between Fisher and Wood Avenues, while the southbound platform was reached from an entrance on Ellis Street. An overpass linked both platforms. The overpass is still accessible, but the stairways leading down to the platform were demolished along with the station.
