When you think of famous prisons, names like Alcatraz, Leavenworth, Attica, Folsom and San Quentin come to mind. In Pennsylvania, Graterford and Eastern State Penitentiary jump out.

Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officials have settled on names for the two new prisons to be built on the grounds of the existing state prison in Graterford in Montgomery County.

Maybe they should have sponsored a contest ... or asked the inmates for suggestions. It does not appear a lot of thought went into the naming of the new facilities.

The names -- the State Correctional Institution at Skippack Township East and State Correctional Institution at Skippack Township West -- don't exactly have the ring that "Graterford" did, but they are geographically correct since "Gaterford" is a section of Skippack Township.

I'm not sure how the residents of Skippack feel about their new claim to fame: Home of the state's largest prisons, where more than 4,000 inmates will be housed.

Pennsylvania Corrections Officials Select Names for New Prisons in Montgomery County