Opened by the London and South Western Railway on 11 July 1848 as ‘Waterloo Bridge station’. Built to extend the line from Nine Elms closer to the City, with the expectation that the line would eventually be extended into the City itself. October 1882 it was renamed Waterloo station, reflecting common usage.
We cannot discover the architect of that first building, nor find a satisfactory image of it. Gaugemaster have a drawing but we find this 1888 plan more informative, also from Gaugemaster, who provide a good intro. to the station, including a photo of Abba (who else?) on a photoshoot.
For half a century the station expanded piecemeal, each development thought temporary, while the extension to the City was planned, negotiated and failed to materialise. Meanwhile the ever-more complex and confusing station became the butt of jokes. e.g. from Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat': "We got to Waterloo at eleven, and asked where the eleven-five started from. Of course nobody knew; nobody at Waterloo ever does know where a train is going to start from, or where a train when it does start is going to, or anything about it."
During this time the London Necropolis & National Mausoleum Company opened, in 1854, a private station inside Waterloo providing a link to Brookwood Cemetery; and Waterloo East was built, opening in 1869 as Waterloo Junction.
Eventually in 1898 L&SWR opened the underground Waterloo & City line, connecting Waterloo station to Bank-Monument station. Accepting that Waterloo would remain forever a terminus, they finally redesigned and rebuilt it, larger than before.
The new station was built and opened in stages starting in 1909 and, delayed by WW1, the whole station, including the war memorial Victory Arch, was finally declared open on 21 March 1922 by Queen Mary.
