It was settled in the 1920s by sharecroppers. The community takes its name from a nearby ridge of the same name which in turn was so named on account it having the form of a pinhook. The community was flooded in May 2011 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breached the Bird’s Point Levee to save the town of Cairo, Illinois. The government did not assist or provide help to evacuate Pinhook. The residents were left entirely on their own before the levee breach. Afterwards, the former residents resettled in East Prairie and Sikeston.