The original inhabitants of the region eventually constituting Hoke County were Tuscarora Native Americans.

[3] The area was later placed under the jurisdiction of Cumberland and Robeson counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina.

[6][7] In 1911 a third attempt was made and conjoined with an effort to name a county in honor of Robert F. Hoke, a Confederate general in the American Civil War and railroad executive.

[5] On February 14, 1911, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to create the new Hoke County[8] effective April 1 of that year, with its first government to be appointed by the governor of North Carolina pending the holding of an election.

[7] An effort by the U.S. Army to acquire a further 49,000 acres in the county in 1952 for Fort Bragg was abandoned after intense lobbying by local residents.

[7] Public schools, which had been originally racially segregated for whites, blacks, and Native Americans, were integrated in the 1960s.

[17] As of the 2020 census, there were 52,082 people residing in Hoke County, with Raeford recorded as the largest community.

[28][30] Hoke County's population has risen in recent decades, largely driven by expansions of Fort Bragg.

[48] Hoke County's economy was originally rooted in the lumber and turpentine industries, and over the course of the 20th century expanded to cover the cultivation of cotton and grain crops and eventually the rearing of livestock.

[50] The county has experienced economic growth in recent decades due to its proximity to Fort Bragg.

[54] Sections in Fort Bragg are served by schools in the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA),[53] for grades K-8.

[55] According to the 2021 American Community Survey, an estimated 19.8 percent of county residents have attained a bachelor's degree or higher level of education.

[57] County government supports a public health department, which experienced an expanding caseload between the 2010s and early 2020s due to Hoke's demographic growth.