In the late 19th century, researchers named the mound group after the Fatherland Plantation, established earlier that century on much of the site. Its owners had cultivated part of the area. When researchers later determined that this was the site called the "Grand Village of the Natchez" in French colonial records, they adopted that as the preferred name to honor the Natchez history at the site. Archaeological investigations and excavations at the site were conducted in 1930, 1962, and 1972 by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). Using evidence found in these, the state reconstructed mounds B and C to their original dimensions. Other institutions, such as the National Park Service, the University of Alabama, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Harvard University's Lower Mississippi Survey have continued investigations alongside the MDAH.
