Alberton is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Howard County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, United States. A postal office operated in the community from 3 February 1854 to 1 March 1943. Alberton was the site of a large

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

along the

Patapsco River The Patapsco River mainstem is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal port ...

, founded by James S. Gary after moving from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

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 the mill, which operated 228 looms and 8–9,000 spindles. In 1879, the stone Victorian Gary Memorial church was built and in 1893, St. Alban's chapel was built as an Episcopal church for the mill town. In 1938, the mill and town was sold to the C.R. Daniels company and renamed Daniels.

References

Unincorporated communities in Howard County, Maryland Unincorporated communities in Maryland {{HowardCountyMD-geo-stub

See also

References