Wood was present in many aspects of daily life in pre-industrial societies, and in Brazil, after the arrival of the Europeans, its economic exploitation began in the Atlantic Forest. This work aims to contribute to the discussion on the use of wood native to the Atlantic Forest during the Brazilian colonial period and its contribution to the transformation of the landscape. In the systematic survey carried out, 146 historical documents were selected for analysis, revealing 132 popular names for wood, related to 341 possible Atlantic Forest species, 10 percent of which are currently threatened with extinction. The most representative families were Leguminosae, Lauraceae and Apocynaceae, and the most cited woods for export were jacarandá, peroba, vinhático, pau-brasil and tapinhoã, with Lisbon being the most indicated port of destination. 59.5 percent of the timber was used for undefined purposes, 17.6 percent for multiple purposes and another 17.6 percent for shipbuilding. The documents analyzed indicated that more than 20,000 cubic meters of wood had been harvested, and the locations with the most mentions of harvesting were Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Pernambuco and Alagoas. Most of the indications of logging sites by popular names were compatible with the geographical occurrence of the possible species to which they were related. It was possible to relate the years with the highest timber exports to historical events. The workforce used was diverse and possibly segmented, knowledge about the woods was poorly organized and confused. It is of fundamental importance to understand the past in order to better understand the present, and studies of environmental history can help explain ecological patterns observed today.