Wiring a Half Switch Outlet

Originally this outlet was controlled by a switch. Typical of the 1940's as you enter the home. Sometime ago, someone re-wired the outlet for constant power, removed the switch and placed a blank cover over the switch box.

I would like to rewire the outlet to be a half switch, so that I can easily turn on the table lamp as I enter and still have the other as a constant outlet for other things.

As you can see from the photos, aside from the wiring being old and scary to me, the outlet only has one set of wires going to it and a ground wire that was obviously an after thought. The switch in the photo controls the outside front light, behind that is a wire that I know is dead (went to an outlet in the basement that was removed), the black wire nut ties the neutral wires from the outlet and the yellow nut ties the negative from the outlet. From what is shown, is it possible to rewire the outlet to be a half switch? They are the only 2 things on that circuit.

 

You don't have enough wires and I seriously question the legitimacy of that ground. If it is cloth NM cable then the box is not grounded and the green wire is not really a ground. If you have old style BX cable without a bonding strip it is not considered an adequate ground.

Given what you have I would run new cable from the breaker box to the switch and the to the receptacle. .

 

Thanks ray2047, I was afraid of that

It is old style BX...as is the majority of the house. There are some areas where I was able to replace the BX with Romex but the bigger issue was getting the BX out. Not only is it stapled to studs and joists, the holes made to run the BX through the studs/joists are barely the size of the BX. It takes some force to pull it through. Would have to tear down all the walls to get rid of it.