Long before Los Angeles became a city of automobiles, it was—like all cities—filled with horse-drawn wagons, carriages, and buggies. It’s the size of those wheels that surprise me. Some of them are nearly as tall as the men are. This line-up was on Spring St between 1st and 2nd Streets in what we now refer to as downtown Los Angeles, but back in 1878, when this photo was taken, it was simply “Los Angeles.”

Gary H. says: “Big wheels not only made The ride smoother ride, it made it possible to get over very rough terrain in the first place. Also, bigger wheels require less pulling force, so a smaller horse could pull the wagon.”

According to one source I found, Roeder’s stood on the west side of Spring Street just south of First. These days, that block is occupied by the headquarters of the LAPD. This image is from June 2022.