Buford, Georgia

Buford appears in historical records beginning in the early 19th century. The area that is now Buford was originally part of Cherokee territory. 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 the Cherokee until the 1830s. The first non-Native Americans moved to the Buford area in the late 1820s or early 1830s, although the Buford area was not largely settled by them until the 1860s. The city was named after Algernon Sidney Buford, who was president of the Atlanta and Richmond Air-Line Railway during the railroad's construction. The town began rapidly expanding around the railway after its completion in 1871, and renamed the City of Buford in 1896. Buford became a large producer of leather products, including saddles, horse collars, bridles, and shoes. Buford's leather industry began with a leatherworker named R.H. Allen opening a harness shop and tannery in 1868, three years before the completion of the railway and the founding of Buford. R.H. Allen's brother Bona Allen moved to Buford from Rome, Georgia, in 1872 and founded the Bona Allen Company the following year. The leather industry quickly became the city's largest industry despite setbacks from several fires, and a fire in 1906 that destroyed a straw storehouse and nearly destroyed the city's harness and horse collar factory. Bona Allen saddles were available through the Sears mail order catalog, Gene Autry, the cast of Bonanza, and Roy Rogers, who used a Bona Allen saddle on his horse Trigger. 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. 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. ==Geography==

{{climate chart Buford is located in both northern Gwinnett County in northern Georgia, with a small portion extending north into Hall County. The city is a suburb within the Atlanta metropolitan area. According to the United States Census Bureau, as of 2010 the city has a total land area of , of which is land and , or 0.44%, is water. The city's elevation is . Buford's city limits are west of the Eastern Continental Divide. Ridge Road, part of which uses Buford as a mailing address, runs along the Eastern Continental Divide, although the road itself is outside the city limits. Buford's primary water supply comes from Lake Lanier an impoundment on the Chattahoochee River. Climate 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 . The coldest month is January which has an average high of around . The highest recorded temperature was in 1952, while the lowest recorded temperature was in 1985. 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 , and April typically being the driest month with . ==Demographics==

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Buford had a population of 17,144. The median age was 35.8 years. 30.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 96.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males age 18 and over. 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas. There were 5,684 households in Buford, including 3,607 families. Of all households, 46.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. 51.9% were married-couple households, 16.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.7% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 6,085 housing units, of which 6.6% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.9%. ==Economy==

Buford, as with the rest of Gwinnett County, has a sales tax of 6%, which is a combination of the 4% state sales tax and a 2% local tax. In 2008, CNN Money ranked Buford as number 3 in its annual "100 best places to live and start a business" list. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Buford's economy was centered on both its location as a railway stop and its leather industry, until demand for leather declined and other transportation options became more readily available over the course of the 1900s, and these industries were no longer a viable part of Buford's economy by the 1980s. Of these, around 59% are employed, and 6% are unemployed. The power tool manufacturer Makita operates a factory in Buford with 400 employees. The North American division of Takeuchi Manufacturing was located in Buford from 1999 until 2006, when the company moved to a larger facility in Pendergrass, Georgia. ==Parks and recreation==

at 3333 Buford Drive in 2007 Buford has several walking trails throughout the city; over of trails are accessible from both the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center and the Mall of Georgia including a portion of the Ivy Creek Greenway, which runs through the city. Buford has walking trails at Bogan and Buford Dam parks. Bogan Park also has several baseball fields and playgrounds as well as the Bogan Park Community Center and Family Aquatics Center. Buford Dam Park is next to Lake Lanier and has areas for swimming and other recreational activities. In addition to the parks run by Gwinnett County there are five city parks located throughout Buford, and a community center, which was completed in early 2012. The southern part of Lake Sidney Lanier and the Lake Lanier Islands are also located in Buford. The Mall of Georgia is the largest mall in Georgia and the 36th largest in the United States, with over 200 stores and a 20 Regal Cinema and IMAX Theaters. While outside the official Buford city limits, the mall uses Buford as its mailing address. ==Government==

The City of Buford is governed by a three-person city commission government headed by a Commission Chairman. Phillip Beard has served as Buford's Commission Chairman since 1975. When the Town of Buford was incorporated in 1872, a city commission consisting of six commissioners was established to govern the town. When a new city charter was enacted in 1896 that renamed the Town of Buford to the City of Buford, the city commission was replaced with a mayor and six councilmen. The city council governed the City of Buford until a new charter was approved on December 24, 1937, that re-established the city commission government. The area of Buford inside Gwinnett County is part of Georgia's 7th congressional district while the Hall County portions of Buford belong to Georgia's 9th congressional district. For the state government, the city is part of the Georgia State Senate's 45th and 49th districts, and the 97th, 98th, and 103rd districts for the Georgia House of Representatives. ==Education==

The Buford City School District has jurisdiction for residents that live within the city limits, while Gwinnett County Public Schools and Hall County Public Schools operate schools for residents that live outside of the city limits. The Buford City School District operates three elementary schools, Buford Academy, Buford Senior Academy, and Buford Elementary, as well as Buford Middle School and Buford High School. The Buford-Sugar Hill Branch of the Gwinnett County Public Library is located in Buford. ==Arts and culture==

The Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center is a museum and cultural center completed in August 2006 and is located in Buford. The center was created to educate children about both water and environmental resources Buford Community Center is a multi-purpose facility that was completed in 2012. Located across the street from Buford City Hall, the Buford Community Center has a museum, 290-seat stage theatre, an outdoor amphitheater, and several spaces for meetings, banquets, and weddings. ==Media==

As part of the Metro Atlanta area, Buford's primary network-affiliated television stations are WXIA-TV (NBC), WANF (CBS), WSB-TV (ABC), and WAGA-TV (Fox). WGTV is the local station of the statewide Georgia Public Television network and is a PBS member station. Buford is served by the Gwinnett Daily Post, which is the most widely distributed newspaper in Buford as well as Gwinnett county's legal organ. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gainesville Times, and North Gwinnett Voice are also distributed in Buford. During the late 1800s, the city of Buford had a number of local newspapers including the Buford Gazette and the Buford Herald, none of which gained consistent widespread use in the city. Several movies have been filmed in and around Buford including the 2010 film Killers, Need for Speed, Blended, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and A Simple Twist of Fate. ==Infrastructure==

Transportation Two major interstate highways pass through Buford: Interstate 85 and Interstate 985 both travel through the city in a general northeast–southwest direction. Buford is Exit 115 on I-85 and Exit 4 on I-985. Georgia State Route 20 travels through Buford in a general northwest–southeast direction. U.S. Route 23 travels northeast into Buford before first merging with State Route 20 towards the southeast and then with I-985 towards the northeast. As late as 1971 the Southern Railway's Piedmont made a southbound stop in Buford on a Washington-Atlanta running passenger run. Until 1967 or 1968 the Southern Railway was running an unnamed northbound successor train to its Peach Queen that made a flag stop in Buford. The nearest airport is the Gwinnett County Airport in the city of Lawrenceville, a small public airport with a single asphalt runway from Buford. The closest major airports are Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which is from Buford and Athens Ben Epps Airport, which is . Health care Buford has several clinics and family doctors, including an Emory Healthcare clinic and a Northside Hospital imaging center, but no major hospitals inside the city limits. The closest hospital is Northside Hospital-Forsyth, which is away in Cumming. Gwinnett Medical Center and Emory Johns Creek Hospital are both from Buford, in Lawrenceville and Johns Creek respectively. Northeast Georgia Health System has a hospital in Gainesville and Braselton. ==Notable people==

Buford is home to several Atlanta Falcons players, including defensive tackle Corey Peters and cornerback Chris Owens. Former Falcons players Jeff Merrow, who played for the Falcons from 1975 to 1983, also lives in Buford, and Scott Case, a former NFL defensive back from 1984 to 1995 for the Falcons and Dallas Cowboys, also lives in Buford. Other athletes who live in Buford include retired hockey player Randy Manery, professional drag racing driver Kurt Johnson, and professional baseball pitcher Jon Huber. Professional baseball player Jerry McQuaig died in 2001. Roy Carlyle, who was a Major League Baseball outfielder between 1925 and 1926 for the Washington Senators (1925), Boston Red Sox (1925–26), and New York Yankees (1926), was born in Buford. Soccer player Luke Biasi was also born here. Several professional athletes have graduated from Buford High School, including wide receiver P. K. Sam and his younger brother quarterback Lorne Sam, as well as professional WNBA player Christi Thomas. Brownie Wise, saleswoman largely responsible for the success of Tupperware, was born in Buford, as was semi-retired professional wrestler and trainer Steve Lawler. Several musicians live in Buford, including Widespread Panic guitarist Jimmy Herring and De'Angelo Holmes of the hip-hop duo Ying Yang Twins. Grammy Award-winning songwriter Joe South lived in Buford before his death on September 5, 2012. ==References==