Built by the Des Moines River Navigation Company in 1852-53, Lock and Dam #6 was one of a series of locks and dams on the Des Moines River charted by the State of Iowa to make the river navigable. Although 27 were planned between Keokuk and Fort Des Moines only 6 were built before the project was abandoned. The segment of the lock and dam system that was finished and the river traffic and industry that it supported were instrumental in fostering the growth of communities along the river including Bentonsport. Today, the remains of Lock and Dam #6 and the site of an adjacent mill built in 1854 are among the few remaining testaments to this project.

Surviving portions of the lock and dam and mill complex were incorporated into a county park in the 1970s. The original triangular mill pond structure, which included the inner lock wall was re-purposed as a rose garden and is a popular site for tourists as well as a wedding venue. In 2020 the Iowa Department of Natural Resources funded signs interpreting the site for visitors. The Lock and Dam site is also located at the Bentonsport water access point on the Lower Des Moines River Water Trail.

The site is a contributing property to the Bentonsport Historic District designated by the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

The remaining walls of the lock and dam are deteriorating. They are exposed to continued environmental damage from ice dams, flooding, heavy rains, and winds as well as from human activity. Their deterioration has also been accelerated by weeds, trees, and brush which annually take root in the irregular crevices of the decaying outer wall at the river’s edge.

As managers of the area, the Van Buren County Conservation Board plans an archaeological study of the lock and dam/mill site and an engineering assessment with the goal of developing a strategy for the stabilization of the inner lock wall.