[3] The present name honors H. J. Hoist, who from 1904 to 1908 was the county sheriff.

At the 2000 census,[1] there were 316 people, 130 households and 92 families residing in the township.

The racial makeup of the township was 99.37% White and 0.63% Native American.

There were 130 households, of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.3% were married couples living together, 2.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families.

25.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.