9. Admiral Park honors a senior Navy officer who fought in the Civil War

Admiral Playground

Admiral Park off Northern Boulevard was named for a senior Navy officer who served in the Civil War. Admiral David Dixon Porter served under David Farragut during the 1862 capture of New Orleans and joined General Ulysses S. Grant in the Vicksburg Campaign. Porter would later direct the bombardment of the Confederate Fort Fisher in North Carolina. Porter was promoted to full admiral after Farragut’s death in 1870, and he remained the most senior officer in the Navy for the next 21 years.

Admiral Playground also bears the name of Seymour “Sy” Seplowe, a World War II veteran who organized the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade. He later founded the Little Neck-Douglaston Youth Club and served as the president of the Little Neck-Douglaston Community Council. To honor Seplowe’s commitment to the area, the City named the park after him after acquiring it in 1951. The park was renamed in 1985 to Admiral Park, though the playground kept Seplowe’s name, receiving an $852,000 renovation in 1997.

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