Selective epitaxial growth and lateral overgrowth of SiC using a graphite mask is reported in this paper, Selective area SiC growth is accomplished using physical vapor transport (PVT) epitaxy. The growth was carried out on 4 H and 6H-SiC wafers on- and 8 degrees off-oriented from the basal plane in the < 11 (2) over bar0 > direction. A graphite mask, consisting of rows and columns of uniformly spaced open circles of 75-mum in diameter was used for the selective nucleation of SiC mesa structures. Using PVT epitaxy, selective area hexagonal-shaped structures were successfully grown. There was essentially no direct growth of SiC on the graphite film observed. A lateral/vertical growth rate ratio of 6 was achieved. Optical and scanning microscope images show perfectly formed hexagonal islands, which are located over the open circular windows. The results suggest that the selective area epitaxial growth of SiC is a promising technique for obtaining high quality, locally grown mesa structures for SiC device applications.