Charles A. Harbert
2 books in the catalogue, published 2006.
Charles A. Harbert, called Chuck in his book descriptions, writes Colorado history. Western Reflections Publishing lists two of his books, Bachelor, Colorado, about a mining town above Creede, and Colorado History, a postcard-based history of the state.
About Charles A. Harbert
According to the publisher's blurb on his 2025 Arcadia Publishing book Creede, Harbert grew up in Colorado and moved to Creede in 1999 after a 30-year career as a chemist and senior executive at Pfizer Central Research. The same blurb says he has written four Colorado history books, including one on Creede and one on Bachelor, a nearby ghost town.
Books
Bachelor, Colorado
A local history of the mining camp that stood two miles up the hill from Creede, covering its saloons, famous visitors, violence and everyday life over about twenty years.
Colorado History
A history told through postcards, with over 275 photographs and an account of the history behind each picture and its subject.
What the books share
Both books on our list treat Colorado history through specific evidence. Bachelor, Colorado tells of the saloons, gambling halls and violence of a mining camp near Creede in the early 1890s. Colorado History uses over 275 photographs of postcards to show aspects of the past found in no other record, with narrative on the story behind each one. We have no further information on his work.
Next steps for readers of this author
Finding your own town in old views
After reading the postcard history, search the Denver Public Library collections for your own town or a family farm. Try the place name with a decade, then compare what you find against the book's captions. Note the call numbers for later.
Starting with one Harbert book
Readers who know Creede can begin with Bachelor, Colorado, then move to the postcard history for the wider state. Readers new to Colorado can do it the other way around. The book pages in the library list both.
Go deeper
Harbert's two books lean on pictures and place, so the best companions are collections where you can look at old photographs and postcards yourself. These resources are statewide, with one for the Creede area he calls home.
Stephen H. Hart Research Center, History Colorado
The research center at the Colorado History Museum in Denver. Its page explains how to search the online collection, request an appointment and use the reading room, and says there is no entry fee to visit.
Denver Public Library Special Collections and Archives
The library's history portal lists photographs and digital collections, genealogy help and local history features. Useful if a postcard view from his Colorado History book shows a town you want to trace.
Creede and Mineral County visitor site
The tourism site for the area around his adopted hometown, with pages on outdoor recreation, the arts and the heritage of the old mining boomtown.
Good to know
How many Charles A. Harbert books does Western Reflections list?
Where does Harbert live?
What did he do before writing history?
Writers like this one are how the list was built
We have published Colorado and Western writers since 1996, and every submission is still read by a person. Send yours, finished or half written.