The name Hakata (博多) has been used since the Six Kingdoms Era (六国史, Rikkokushi, 8 - 9 cen.), which corresponds with the periods extending from the Asuka to early Heian periods.
During the Tang Dynasty in China (618 - 907), Hakata was a trading port and was known on the Asian continent written as 覇家臺 (Bàjiātaí) or 覇家台 (both are read as “Hakata” in Japanese) and “Hakkakujima” (八角島, lit. “8-cornered island” or “star anise island”). In addition, the port town was introduced in the Ming Dynasty book “Wǔbèi Zhì” (武備志, lit. “Military Preparation Records”). It was also called Hana Asahi Tazu (花旭塔津). Regardless of its name, Hakata functioned as one of only three ports in Japan dealing with foreign trade and missions.
Hakata (博多) has a number of possible origins:
土地博（ひろ）く人・物産多し, meaning "the land is expansive, with many people and products")
羽形 (Hagata) from the shape of the land which appears like a large bird spreading its wings
泊潟 (Tomari-gata), from the lagoon where ships once left for overseas berths
羽片 (Hagata), meaning the feather of a crane that fell after being shto (the crane's grave is at Enosha in Dazaifu City)
葉形 (Hagata) from the leaves that fell off a large tree that was cut, and so on.
The name 博多 (Hakata) was also used in ancient times to refer to the area facing present-day Hakata Bay.
The original Hakata Station (pictured above) was built in 1889 (Meiji 22), when Kyūshū Railway constructed the region’s first railway line at the southern end of the grounds of Jotenji Temple (near present-day Dekimachi Park in Fukuoka).
It’s a shame they didn’t keep this building. It could have been used as a museum.