Formerly called Crow's Nest Landing, the town began in the 1890s as a refuelling point for the wood-burning steamboats travelling the Kootenay River.

At the time, William Waldorf Waldo, a real estate speculator, acquired extensive land for subdivision.

[6] Around 1924, the station moved about 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) northward[7] and served as late as 1935,[8] but had closed by 1936 with the abandonment of the Elko, BC–Rexford, Montana section of track that year.

[9] In 1912, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) built its Waldo subdivision southward from Caithness,[10] crossing the GN track about 9.2 kilometres (5.7 mi) north of the station.

[2][3] Encountering an acute labour shortage, the manager sent an agent east to hire experienced French-Canadian mill workers.

[2][3] The combined capacity of the two mills (each 75,000 feet per day) had exceeded the available forest resources, making their operations unprofitable.

The 1929 fire destroyed almost the entire town, leaving only the Anglican church and a few buildings in South Waldo.

The success of ranching during the Great Depression led to the formation of the Waldo Stock Breeders Livestock Association.

BC Hydro set fire to almost all the remaining buildings, including the once magnificent three-room school.