After establishing a form of town government, the first years involved regulating public behavior and land-use within the town. Therefore, forming laws of procedure and adopting ordinances were the chief business of the board.

Listed in the Town Records of Santa Clara, are the first of these ordinances with the "Clerk ordered to post the same in three public places in town."

Ordinances for the suppression of disorderly or riotous Conduct and preservation of the peace for the town of Santa Clara.

Be it ordained by the Trustees of the Town of Santa Clara any person or persons who shall be guilty of disorderly or riotous Conduct or in anywise creating a breach of the peace shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than one or more than one hundred dollars.

(2nd) Be it ordained by the Board of Trustees for the Town of Santa Clara that from this date hence forth no streets shall be closed or obstructed in any manner either by fence or otherways and all streets now closed and occupied by crops shall be imediately [sic] opened after the present crop or crops shall be gathered. Any person or persons so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than ten or more than one hundred dollars.

(3rd) Be it ordained by the Board of Trustees for the Town of Santa Clara any person or persons who shall be guilty of Horse Racing aiding or abeting at a horse race shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not less than ten or more than one hundred dollars for each and every offense.
[F. Lard President Santa Clara July 30, 1852]

Two years later the Board declared:

". . .. the following named customs and acts to be nuisances. Towit. . . swine running at large in the streets and alleys of the Town of Santa Clara . . . Bear and Bull Fighting and all Showes [sic] on Sunday. . .. Slaughtering of wild or tame cattle within the corporate limits of the town. . . Selling unwholesome meats . . . Indecent exposure of person . . . Fast driving or riding of Horses on Week days or Sundays through the principle streets of the town endangering the safety of others. . . Keeping open Houses of Public Amusement after midnight. . ."

The Board met irregularly, sometimes in the "little brick school," sometimes in the members' places of business and homes, (it wouldn't be until 29 years later, that the first Town Hall was constructed). It was a struggle to keep the fledgling government working. The early records of Santa Clara list at least half a dozen elections during the first couple of years, and public officials of the day seemed to hold their positions in light regard as many left office to travel--many times without the formality of submitting resignations, and Santa Clara's form of government itself underwent several changes in the first two decades of its existence. In 1862, the town was reincorporated with a new charter, and in 1866 when the first official survey was made, re-incorporation with charter changes occurred once more and again in 1872.

As Santa Clara developed, each expansion created a new problem necessitating a new regulation. In June 1864, the discovery of artesian water, at first hailed as "Far beyond in value the discovery of a dozen gold mines" led to the problems of flooding and had to be addressed.

"Section 9. Any person or persons owning or having in their possession, under their control any artesian well or spring, who shall permit the water there from to run across the sidewalk or public street of the town so as to injure or damage the same, or to obstruct the free travel of either wagon or person shall be deemed guilty . . ." (Town Records of Santa Clara, Minutes of June 13, 1864)

However, as the years progressed, the problems inherent with growth would be successfully dealt with by its Board and Santa Clara prospered. By the end of the nineteenth century the town limits had expanded to three square miles, triple its extent at incorporation, with a population of 3,650.