Our Vision
A self-sustaining farm which involves and benefits the Mattocks beneficiaries and local surrounding communities.
Our Mission
To be good stewards of the land, promote culturally and environmentally sensitive, and financially sustainable practices, to serve and educate family and community members, while honoring the cultural and historical wisdom of our ancestors.
Education
Mattocks Riverview Farms serves as a living classroom - teaching younger generations about sustainable agriculture, forestry, and stewardship of the land. The family is committed to incorporating younger generations in preserving African American farming history, and educating them on farmland management, water ecosystems, and forest stewardship protocols.
The farm's unique landscape - spanning pine timberlands, wetland marsh, and working agricultural fields - offers hands-on learning opportunities found nowhere else in Onslow County.
Our Education Goals
- Preserve African American Farming Heritage Connect younger family members and community participants with the deep history of Black land ownership and stewardship in Onslow County.
- Teach Land & Water Stewardship Hands-on education covering farmland management, wetland conservation, and forest management protocols on 615 acres of varied terrain.
- Inspire Future Generations Engage young people in the farm's working operations - from pine management to agricultural leasing - so that the legacy is understood and owned by those who will carry it forward.
Annual Family Education Conference
The trust convenes an annual summer educational conference, bringing together family members of all generations alongside outside experts. Topics have included sustainable forestry practices, cost-share programs for land management, and estate planning - critical knowledge for any family holding land across generations. The Longleaf Alliance has presented at the 2023 and 2025 gatherings, finding a deeply engaged group every time.
The goal is simple: expose future family leaders to the information they need before they need it - so the next generation inherits not just land, but the knowledge to steward it.
2025 Conference - Peggie & Major Family Educational Conference
September 6-7, 2025 - Hazel and Jacquelyn Mattocks Pavilion (Day 1) and Peggie and Major Mattocks Homestead, 116 Breezy Lane, Hubert, NC (Day 2)
The 2025 conference was among the most comprehensive gatherings in the trust's history. The two-day program brought together family members, foresters, federal agency representatives, attorneys, and conservation partners for a full curriculum on land stewardship and family legacy.
- Sustaining Forests and Family Legacies Vision, Mission, and Overarching Goals for the farm's future
- Black Farming History in NC Presented by Kenneth Dunn, Forester - what Black farming families need to know about land retention
- USDA Programs Julius George, Assistant State Conservationist - how federal programs serve landowners in Southeastern NC
- NRCS Programs Fredrick Norman, NRCS Conservationist - working with local farming families in Onslow County
- Role of a Forestry Consultant Ashley Faircloth, Pine State Forestry - executing the Forestry Management and Reforestation Plan
- Estate Planning Panel Gregory Davis, PLLC - wills, trusts, family succession planning, and advancing the family legacy
- National Wildlife Federation Mentorship Introduction to the NWF Landowner Mentorship Model
- Longleaf Academy Karen Brown, Resource Specialist, The Longleaf Alliance - the Longleaf for the Landowner Academy program in Southeastern NC
- Farm Sign Unveiling Ceremonial unveiling of the Peggie and Major Mattocks Farm Sign
- Land Tour & Family History Tour of farmland and forestry land; family history presented by Zykia and Joycelyn, Historian & Trustee
- Ancestral/Tribal Dance Circle Led by Tonya Stancil, followed by dinner
Day two continued with breakfast, a tour of the homestead, and a boat tour of the land - putting eyes on the land that anchors everything the family is working to protect.
The Longleaf for the Landowner Academy
In 2023, trustees Constance Stancil and Joycelyn McKelpin attended the Longleaf for the Landowner Academy - the first program of its kind, bridging longleaf management topics with land-ownership subjects and connecting landowners with the technical and financial resources available to them. The experience was transformative. Back at the farm, the Mattocks family hosted NWF Landowner Mentor Herbert Hodges on a Zoom call to share his insights with the broader family.
"Attending the Longleaf Academy changed everything." Joycelyn McKelpin and Constance Stancil
That investment came full circle in April 2026, when Mattocks Riverview Farms was a featured stop on the Longleaf and the Landowner Academy in nearby Maysville - welcoming roughly 30 fellow landowners for a tour and a day of shared learning. The farm that once learned from a mentor had become the model others came to see.