and earning the nickname "The Leather City". 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, including a fire in 1903 that destroyed the buildings of several businesses 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, and many Hollywood actors used saddles made by the Bona Allen Company, including cowboy actors Gene Autry, the cast of Bonanza, and Roy Rogers, who used a Bona Allen saddle on his horse Trigger. A statue of Roy Rogers and a Bona Allen saddle-maker saddling Trigger is located in downtown Buford. The Bona Allen Company thrived during the Great Depression in the 1930s, likely as a result of the Depression forcing farmers to choose horses over expensive tractors, thereby increasing the demand for saddles, collars, bridles, and other leather products. The Bona Allen Company constructed Tannery Row in downtown Buford as a shoe factory in 1919. 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 military. Afterwards, the factory closed in 1945. In 2003 Tannery Row became home to the Tannery Row Artist Colony, which houses galleries and studios for artists. 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 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