Born in Springfield, Georgia, Tebeau earned a bachelor's degree from The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and master's and doctoral degrees from The State University of Iowa.
Tebeau helped start the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in Miami and served as editor of its annual historical journal, Tequesta, for 40 years.
Best known is A History of Florida, which was published in 1971 by University of Miami Press.
This was the most comprehensive history of Florida published to that time, and became a standard textbook.
The Florida Historical Association also annually awards the "Charlton Tebeau Book Award" for the publication of a general interest book on Florida history.