The railroad city · 1872
Buford History
Buford exists because of the railroad. The Atlanta to Richmond line, the Air-Line Railway, reached the area in 1871, and the settlement that grew around the crossing took the name of Algernon Sidney Buford, a railroad official on that line. The Georgia General Assembly incorporated the Town of Buford on August 24, 1872.
The city renamed itself under a new charter in 1896, spent a century as a railroad and agricultural center, and then rebuilt its identity around the interstate: the Mall of Georgia opened in 1999, and the old Main Street found a second life alongside it.
The founding story
A railroad official's name on a crossing
The Air-Line Railway, built after the Civil War to connect Atlanta to Richmond, was completed through the area in 1871. The settlement grew quickly around the line and was named for Algernon Sidney Buford. On August 24, 1872, the Georgia General Assembly incorporated the Town of Buford, and a new charter in 1896 changed the name to the City of Buford.
The modern era
The interstate and the mall
The opening of I-85 and, later, the Mall of Georgia in 1999 turned the city's west side into a regional retail destination, while the historic Main Street downtown kept its old storefronts and became the local-dining block. The city now spans both Gwinnett and Hall counties and runs its own schools and services across the line.
An editorial guide, not a listings site. Updated September 13, 2026. Real-estate guidance on this page is provided by Rob Dietrich, REALTOR® with eXp Realty, LLC.