Houston has been an unlikely city, a happy accident, from the very start, made up of tough people—the kind that were not put off by diseases, (many) floods, oil busts, or anything else that might come along as they persevered in making a home upon swamps and meadows.

So when the coronavirus landed in Houston earlier this year, it was no surprise that Mayor Sylvester Turner stood at the podium at City Hall and reminded Houstonians exactly who we are: “Winston Churchill said, ‘We have not journeyed across the centuries, across the oceans, across the mountains, across the prairies because we are made of sugar candy.’ We are the direct descendants of thousands of survivors. We are resilient.”

Turner reminded us that Houstonians have always made it through the hard times, and we will again. We’ve even made this town a better place because of the challenges we’ve faced.

We at Houstonia would like to think the following stories of Houston resilience can act as a guide to navigate the difficult days ahead, as we all work toward some relief from the threat posed by COVID-19. Of course, we already know Houston will not only endure, but get stronger.

Or as our mayor likes to say, “You’ve got this.”

Photo caption: WWI homecoming parade, 1918. looking south on Main St. led by the Red Cross. Houstonians had endured the war and the Spanish flu by then.