Safe Haven got its name because during the Holocaust it was a refuge shelter. It now serves as a museum keeping the stories of the almost 1,000 refugees alive. The refugees were and were allowed into the states as "guests" of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The building itself is housed within an original 1905 gatehouse at the Fort Ontario State Park.
The Fort itself actually has some interesting history. It has been in use for every American was. It was actually built on the ruins of three earlier fortifications that dated back to the French Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812.