It was named for William Charles Alderson, treasure of the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad.

[5] W.C. Alderson, under the name "Willy," was one of the children written about and the source of much of the material in Mary Howitt's Our Cousins in Ohio (1849).

At the time of its founding, Alderson was located in Tobucksy County, a part of the Moshulatubbee District of the Choctaw Nation.

[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2), all land.

About 14.0% of families and 20.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.2% of those under the age of eighteen and 26.7% of those sixty five or over.