 The city 's progress continued through the Reconstruction era with numerous " firsts " : construction of the opera house ( 1870 ) , and orphanage ( 1876 ) , and installation of telephone lines ( 1878 ) and electric lights ( 1883 ) . Having attracted freedmen from rural areas , in 1870 the city had a black population that totaled 3 @,@ 000 , made up mostly of former slaves but also by numerous persons who were free men of color and educated before the war . The " blacks " comprised nearly 25 % of the city 's population of 13 @,@ <unk> that year . 
