Palm Grove Cemetery in central Monrovia is the main burial ground of the Americo-Liberian elite and the resting place of most of Liberia's presidents. The Victorian-era tombs and mausoleums — many in various states of decay — tell the story of the settler class that ran Liberia for over a century.
The cemetery is open and accessible, though maintenance is inconsistent. Walking through it with a local guide gives a tour through Liberian political history — the successive presidents buried here from the 1840s onward, the patterns of family and faction evident in the burial plots, and the contrast between elaborate monuments and the poverty visible just outside the gates. A quietly significant place that few visitors think to include.