Adirondack Life

THE BEAT GOES ON. AND ON AND ON …

ON an early April afternoon last year, snow clinging to Old Forge’s Bald Mountain and the Fulton Chain still frozen, two men ate lunch at The Tavern, in Eagle Bay. They’d been at the restaurant a few times before. They mentioned that they were new to the area and working for a local contractor. But their behavior and the questions they asked were suspicious. Sensing something off, someone made a call to the Town of Webb’s police department. It turned out the men were wanted for felony robbery charges in California. After they finished their burgers they were escorted from The Tavern and taken into custody.

That’s the way it is in the Adirondacks. For better or worse, you are known or you aren’t. But in the Town of Webb, in the central Adirondacks, watchful citizens are appreciated. Here, the police force includes six full-time and two part-time officers. A team that size might seem like a lot for a year-round population of 1,800, but at 466 square miles (that’s about 20 Manhattans), Webb, in Herkimer County, is the biggest town, in terms of acreage, in New York State. It has mountains, meadows, forests, lakes, ponds, rivers

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