Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No More Than Five in a Bed | 1962 | Sandra Dallas | Buy |
| 2 | Gaslights and Gingerbread | 1965 | Sandra Dallas | Buy |
| 3 | Cherry Creek Gothic | 1971 | Sandra Dallas | Buy |
| 4 | Yesterday’s Denver | 1974 | Sandra Dallas | Buy |
| 5 | Sacred Paint | 1979 | Sandra Dallas | Buy |
| 6 | Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps | 1985 | Sandra Dallas | Buy |
| 7 | Colorado Homes | 1986 | Sandra Dallas | Buy |
| 8 | The Quilt That Walked to Golden | 2004 | Sandra Dallas | Buy |
Sandra Dallas’s non-fiction books document Colorado’s history through its buildings, towns, and material culture. She began with No More Than Five in a Bed (1962), a look at the state’s historic hotels and lodging houses, and followed it with Gaslights and Gingerbread (1965) and Cherry Creek Gothic (1971), which examined Victorian-era architecture in Denver and the surrounding region.
Her later non-fiction shifted to broader subjects. Colorado Ghost Towns and Mining Camps (1985) catalogued the remnants of the state’s mining boom, while Colorado Homes (1986) surveyed historic residences. The Quilt That Walked to Golden (2004) brought together two of her main interests, telling the stories behind historic Colorado quilts and the women who made them.
These books were written before Dallas became known as a novelist, and they reflect the deep knowledge of Colorado’s past that would later inform her fiction.