Buford is a city in Gwinnett and Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12,225.^[3] Most of the city is in Gwinnett County, which is part of the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area. The portions of the city in Hall County are not part of Atlanta’s metropolitan statistical area, but are part of Atlanta’s larger Combined Statistical Area, which includes Hall County.

The recorded history of Buford began in early 19th century. The area that is now Buford was originally Cherokee territory and despite the treaty in 1817 that ceded the territory to the United States and Gwinnett County’s legislative establishment in 1818, the area was still largely inhabited by Cherokee until the 1830s.^[4] The first non-Native American moved to the Buford area in the late 1820s or early 1830s, although the Buford area was not largely inhabited by non-Native Americans until the 1860s.^[4]

During the post-civil war construction of the extended Richmond and Danville Railroad System, railroad stockholders Thomas Garner and Larkin Smith purchased land around the railroad’s right-of-way and began developing the city of Buford.^[4][5][6] The city was named after Algernon Sidney Buford, who was president of the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway during the railroad’s construction.^[6][7] The town began rapidly expanding after the railway’s completion in 1871 of the railroad that now runs through downtown Buford.^[4] Buford was incorporated as the Town of Buford on August 24, 1872,^[8] and the name was changed to the City of Buford in 1896.^[7]

In the late 1800s and early 1900s Buford became widely known for its leather production, becoming prominently associated with the leather industry and earning the nickname “The Leather City”.^[9] Buford became a large producer of leather products, including saddles, horse collars, bridles, and shoes. Bona Allen saddles were available through the Sears mail order catalog,^[10] and many Hollywood actors used saddles made by the Bona Allen Company, including cowboy actors^[11] Gene Autry, the cast of Bonanza, and Roy Rogers, who used a Bona Allen saddle on his horse Trigger.^[12] A statue of Roy Rogers and a Bona Allen saddle-maker saddling Trigger is located in downtown Buford.

 

The Bona Allen Shoe and Horse Collar Factory is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Buford’s leather industry began with R.H. Allen^[13] opening a harness shop and tannery^[12] in 1868, three years before the completion of the railway and the founding of Buford.^[10] R.H. Allen’s brother Bona Allen moved to Buford from Rome, Georgia in 1872 and founded the Bona Allen Company the following year, in 1873.^[14] The leather industry quickly became the city’s largest industry despite setbacks from several fires,^[12] including a fire in 1903 that destroyed the buildings of several businesses^[15] and a fire in 1906 that destroyed a straw store house and nearly destroyed the city’s harness and horse collar factory.^[16] The Bona Allen Company thrived during the Great Depression in the 1930s, likely as a result of the Great Depression forcing farmers to choose horses over expensive tractors, thereby increasing the demand for saddles, collars, bridles, and other leather products.^[12]

 

The historic Tannery Row building in downtown Buford

The Bona Allen Company constructed Tannery Row in downtown Buford as a shoe factory in 1919.^[11] After a brief employee strike the shoe factory was closed in 1942, although it was briefly reopened by the request of the federal government during World War II to make footwear for the United States military. Afterwards, the factory closed in 1945.^[14] In 2003 Tannery Row became home to the Tannery Row Artist Colony, which houses galleries and studios for artists.^[17]

After the Great Depression the use of horses for farming decreased and tractors took their place, and the Bona Allen Company steadily downsized until the tannery was eventually sold to the Tandy Corporation in 1968.^[10] Buford’s leather industry ended after the tannery experienced a fire in 1981, when the Tandy Corporation decided not to rebuild the tannery and closed the facility. Unlike most cities, Buford no longer has a mayor. The final mayor was Carl W. Pirkle, who owned a hardware shop located in downtown Buford. ^[12]

Buford is located in both northern Gwinnett county and southern Hall county in northern Georgia and is a suburb of the Atlanta metropolitan area. According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2010 the city has a total land area of 17.01 square miles (44.1 km²) and the city’s elevation is 1,183 feet (361 m).^[18]

Buford’s city limits are a few miles west of the Eastern Continental Divide.^[19] Ridge Road, part of which uses Buford as a mailing address, runs alongside the Eastern Continental Divide,^[20] although the road itself is outside the city limits. Buford’s primary water supply comes from Lake Lanier^[21] which receives its water from the Lake Lanier watershed.^[22]

The climate of Buford, as with most of the southeastern United States, is humid subtropical (Cfa) according to the Köppen classification, with four seasons including hot, humid summers and cool winters. July is generally the warmest month of the year with an average high of around 87 °F (31 °C). The coldest month is January which has an average high of around 50 °F (10 °C).^[23] The highest recorded temperature was 107 °F (42 °C) in 1952, while the lowest recorded temperature was −8 °F (−22 °C) in 1985.^[23]

Buford receives rainfall distributed fairly evenly throughout the year as typical of southeastern U.S. cities, with February on average having the highest average precipitation at 5.3 inches (130 mm), and April typically being the driest month with 3.7 inches (94 mm).^[23]