Owen's Covered Bridge was built around 1875 to span the North River, a tributary of the Des Moines River. This Howe Truss style bridge originally stood about 2.5 miles northeast of Carlisle as part of a road from Martins Ferry to Winterset. In 1939, relocation of the road and river left the bridge abandoned on Gordon Owen's land. Covered bridge designs such as the Howe Truss protected the trusses, or lumber supports, from weather to extend a bridge's life. Construction of the Red Rock Dam and Reservoir then threatened the last remaining covered bridge in Polk County, so before the area flooded, Polk County Conservation purchased it in 1965 for one dollar. In 1968, it was moved to its current location in Easter Lake Park, then known as Yeader Creek Park. Between 1967 and 2012, Easter Lake lost nearly 30% of its volume to sedimentation, and renovations from 2016 to 2018 removed more than 675,000 cubic yards of sediment. For future protection, a large basin was designed to the left of the bridge to slow incoming storm water and allow sediment to settle before entering Easter Lake, a more cost-effective approach than dredging the entire lake. Phosphorus in sediment can cause algae to grow rapidly and overtake a lake, and one pound of phosphorus can produce 300 to 500 pounds of algae. Dredging targeted silted-in bays around the lake, and the sediment basin is expected to keep more than 200 tons of sediment and almost 300 pounds of phosphorus from entering the lake, resulting in cleaner water and healthier habitats for people and wildlife.