Alberton is an unincorporated community in Howard County, Maryland, United States. A postal office operated in the community from 3 February 1854 to 1 March 1943. It was the site of a large cotton mill along the Patapsco River founded by James S. Gary after moving from Connecticut in 1839. A store and seventy company buildings for workers were built on 820 acres around the factory. The mill used adult and child labor including Gary's son James Albert Gary. In 1866 and 1868 the mill was damaged by flooding which Gary survived by floating with his daughter on a log. In 1870, James Albert Gary inherited the mill and the town named after him "Alberton". In 1885 his son, E. Stanley Gary took over which operated 228 looms and 8-9 thousand spindles.