I do not know why, as the outlets have been there for as long as I've been alive and for as long as my parents lived in the place. And because they did not install them, they don't know why they exist either.

Now that I think about it more, it might make sense if they were used for decorative lighting, as they are located directly above 6 beams that hold the ceiling up.

Decorative lighting on the 6 beams has got to be the only explanation.

I forgot to mention, there was a 3 way switch at the back door, controlling a ceiling light, but was not on a 3 way switched circuit. I guess they just happened to have a 3 way switch so installed it.

Also not an outlet, but on the living room wall, about 9 feet off the floor, there are two low voltage wires, one at each end of the wall that we have never been able to identify the purpose of. Speakers, maybe??

@Medved, @HPS_250, not that there is anything wrong with having that many outlets... there isn't. But I've never seen that many
outlets in such a small space before, at least not until moving here. As of now, I have not utilized having those outlets just yet,
but best bet, I plan on changing that.

When I moved into my house , I found 2 switches mounted in the FLOOR on the front bedroom closet !   Wanting to know what they were for I flipped one to off. WELL , everything went dark, the WHOLE upstairs ! OK, turn that back on . Then I tried the other switch , same thing , the whole upstairs went dark !! SO... NOW I'm curious , I removed the plate and found that 1 switch was wired to the hot and the other wired to the neutral !!!   What in the.... ! WELL , I later discovered that my house was originally a tiny single story house and the 2nd story was added sometime in the 80's  with the entire upstairs on 1 breaker !! The switches are on the wire coming from the panel to the upstairs. Why this was done , I have NO IDEA !! And , regarding excess outlets, The entire upstairs has pairs of duplex receptacles spaced 6' apart . Both bedrooms have no less than SIXTEEN INDIVIDUAL OUTLETS !!! The "big room upstairs actually has FORTY TWO individual outlets !!   All of this , PLUS the lighting circuits are all run from ONE 20a breaker !

 CAN YOU SAY FIRE HAZARD !!!!?

When I moved into my house , I found 2 switches mounted in the FLOOR on the front bedroom closet !   Wanting to know what they were for I flipped one to off. WELL , everything went dark, the WHOLE upstairs ! OK, turn that back on . Then I tried the other switch , same thing , the whole upstairs went dark !! SO... NOW I'm curious , I removed the plate and found that 1 switch was wired to the hot and the other wired to the neutral !!!   What in the.... ! WELL , I later discovered that my house was originally a tiny single story house and the 2nd story was added sometime in the 80's  with the entire upstairs on 1 breaker !! The switches are on the wire coming from the panel to the upstairs. Why this was done , I have NO IDEA !! And , regarding excess outlets, The entire upstairs has pairs of duplex receptacles spaced 6' apart . Both bedrooms have no less than SIXTEEN INDIVIDUAL OUTLETS !!! The "big room upstairs actually has FORTY TWO individual outlets !!   All of this , PLUS the lighting circuits are all run from ONE 20a breaker !

 CAN YOU SAY FIRE HAZARD !!!!?

Outlets on the floor? That’s certainly new to me, especially in a house.  Sounds like you had some real idiot “licensed electricians” wiring your house and those two switches specifically. Talk you about a fire hazard! That’s so weird that they put the wire from the breaker panel on a switch. 42 outlets on one breaker is just crazy enough, but add lights and it’s just a recipe for instant overload. In my house, there are 100 amps that are spread out weirdly. The weirdest thing is that my house has 30 amps dedicated to the ATTIC, which has nothing electrical except a single light fixture. 

Only the switches were in the floor, All of the outlets are mounted about 4" from the floor in the wall . And actually, between the 2 bedrooms and the big room , there are a not so grand total of SEVENTY FOUR individual outlets upstairs PLUS the lighting all on one 20a breaker !!   And by the way , when I say 2 duplex receptacles every 6' I mean this : https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-170461

Only the switches were in the floor, All of the outlets are mounted about 4" from the floor in the wall . And actually, between the 2 bedrooms and the big room , there are a not so grand total of SEVENTY FOUR individual outlets upstairs PLUS the lighting all on one 20a breaker !!   And by the way , when I say 2 duplex receptacles every 6' I mean this : https://www.lighting-gallery.net/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-170461

Switches in the floor are even weirder. Your house just sounds like an electrical disaster! Hopefully you can get all of it fixed.

My house doesn't sound like an electrical disaster it IS an electrical disaster! And a structural disaster, and a plumbing disaster and a HVAC disaster ! (As he runs off screaming and waving his arms wildly !! ) 

My house doesn't sound like an electrical disaster it IS an electrical disaster! And a structural disaster, and a plumbing disaster and a HVAC disaster ! (As he runs off screaming and waving his arms wildly !! ) 

A structural and plumbing disaster too! Sounds like a huge problem. 

BUY a house they said , it'll be FUN they said !!!

My house doesn't sound like an electrical disaster it IS an electrical disaster! And a structural disaster, and a plumbing disaster and a HVAC disaster ! (As he runs off screaming and waving his arms wildly !! ) 

Tim, just remove anything you care about, Fill the house up with leds and then burn the whole lot down and start again! I'm sure you could do much better then 74 outlets on one breaker.

Tim, just remove anything you care about, Fill the house up with leds and then burn the whole lot down and start again! I'm sure you could do much better then 74 outlets on one breaker.

 

But make sure to save all of those cobraheads!

But make sure to save all of those cobraheads!

Well yeah i said things he cared about, not silly leds!

Well yeah i said things he cared about, not silly leds!

I’m sure cities have plenty of Leotek E-Cobras waiting to be disposed of! 

So far , everything I tear into gets gutted and totally redone... CORRECTLY !! All of the upstairs electrical is going in the scrap bin !!