The Tverskaya Zastava Square was formed in 1742 simultaneously with the construction of the Kamer-Kollegiya rampart. Already in the 16th century, the Tverskaya Yamskaya sloboda was located here, and the lively Tverskoy tract passed through, which later became known as the Petersburg road.

On December 15, 1868, Emperor Alexander II approved the concession for the construction of the Moscow-Smolensk railway, the project of which was developed by the Moscow and Smolensk zemstvos. The Moscow station was to be located to the left of the Petersburg highway opposite the Petrovsky Park. In 1869, the City Duma raised the issue of moving the station closer to the city, and the commission decided to build it at Tverskaya Zastava.

In April 1869, construction of the station, named Smolensk, began, which became the sixth in order and the second largest in Moscow. The construction was overseen by a major entrepreneur and owner of brick factories, State Councilor Nemchinov, after whom the modern platform "Nemchinovka" is named.

Traffic on the road was opened on September 19, 1870.

In November 1871, the railway was extended to Brest, and the Moscow-Brest line became the longest in the country (1100 km). The station was named Brest.

By the early 1890s, the station barely accommodated passengers from one train, but reconstruction only began in 1907.

The project for the new Brest station was developed by architect I. Strukov. In the year of its opening, Russia celebrated the centenary of the war with Napoleon. In honor of Emperor Alexander I, under whom the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 was achieved, on May 4, 1912, the Moscow-Brest railway and the station were renamed Alexandrovsky.

In the facade of the station, built on both sides of the square, I. Strukov combined traditional elements of large railway stations: a huge entrance arch flanked by towers and dome pavilions. The interiors of the station were designed in classical motifs of the palaces of the Alexander I era. Along with the station, the Tverskoy overpass was built.

In August 1922, the Alexandrovsk and Moscow-Baltic railways merged into the Moscow-Belarusian-Baltic railway, and the station was renamed Belarusian-Baltic. Since May 1936, the station has received its current name, Belarusian. With this name, it entered the history of the Great Patriotic War: on June 26, 1941, the song "Sacred War" was heard for the first time in the square in front of the station.