diff --git a/backend/api/content_routes.py b/backend/api/content_routes.py
index 67e111d..cd682b1 100644
--- a/backend/api/content_routes.py
+++ b/backend/api/content_routes.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException, Request, Response
 
 from api import content_payloads as payloads
 from api import sitemap as sitemap_mod
-from api.payloads import history_token
+from api.payloads import content_token
 from data import climate
 from data import cities
 from data import grid
@@ -58,13 +58,21 @@ def _cached(request: Request, kind: str, cell_id: str, key: str, token: str, bui
     return _json_response(store.put_payload(kind, cell_id, key, token, payload), etag)
 
 
-def _resolve_city(slug: str):
-    """(city, cell, history) for a slug, or raise 404 (unknown) / 503 (warming) --
-    mirrors web/content.py's _resolve_city."""
+def _city_cell(slug: str):
+    """(city, cell) for a slug, or raise 404 — both steps are cheap (a dict
+    lookup and a pure grid snap) and, crucially, load no history, so the
+    derived-store token can be computed and a cache hit served without ever
+    touching the ~45-year archive."""
     city = cities.get(slug)
     if city is None:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Unknown city.")
-    cell = grid.snap(city["lat"], city["lon"])
+    return city, grid.snap(city["lat"], city["lon"])
+
+
+def _load_history(cell):
+    """The cell's ~45-year archive, or raise 503 while it's still warming --
+    the expensive load that used to run on every request. Now called only from
+    the content handlers' build() closures, i.e. only on a derived-store miss."""
     history = climate.load_cached_history(cell)
     if history is None or history.is_empty():
         try:
@@ -73,7 +81,7 @@ def _resolve_city(slug: str):
             history = None
     if history is None or history.is_empty():
         raise HTTPException(status_code=503, detail="Climate data is warming up; please retry shortly.")
-    return city, cell, history
+    return history
 
 
 def _origin(request: Request) -> str:
@@ -105,16 +113,17 @@ def content_home(request: Request):
 
 @router.get("/content/city/{slug}")
 def content_city(request: Request, slug: str):
-    city, cell, history = _resolve_city(slug)
-    recent = None
-    try:
-        recent = climate.get_recent_forecast(cell)
-    except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 - today_vs_normal degrades to None
-        pass
-    token = history_token(history)
+    city, cell = _city_cell(slug)
+    token = content_token(cell["id"])
     origin = _origin(request)
 
     def build():
+        history = _load_history(cell)
+        recent = None
+        try:
+            recent = climate.get_recent_forecast(cell)
+        except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001 - today_vs_normal degrades to None
+            pass
         return payloads.city_payload(origin, BASE, city, history, recent)
 
     # origin is folded into the cache key (not just slug) because the payload's
@@ -131,10 +140,11 @@ def content_city(request: Request, slug: str):
 def content_city_month(request: Request, slug: str, month: str):
     if month not in payloads.MONTH_INDEX:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="Unknown month.")
-    city, cell, history = _resolve_city(slug)
-    token = history_token(history)
+    city, cell = _city_cell(slug)
+    token = content_token(cell["id"])
 
     def build():
+        history = _load_history(cell)
         return payloads.month_payload(BASE, city, history, payloads.MONTH_INDEX[month])
 
     return _cached(request, "content-month", cell["id"], f"{slug}:{month}", token, build)
@@ -142,11 +152,12 @@ def content_city_month(request: Request, slug: str, month: str):
 
 @router.get("/content/city/{slug}/records")
 def content_city_records(request: Request, slug: str):
-    city, cell, history = _resolve_city(slug)
-    token = history_token(history)
+    city, cell = _city_cell(slug)
+    token = content_token(cell["id"])
     origin = _origin(request)
 
     def build():
+        history = _load_history(cell)
         return payloads.records_payload(origin, BASE, city, history)
 
     # See content_city's comment: origin folded into the cache key for the
diff --git a/backend/tests/api/test_content_routes.py b/backend/tests/api/test_content_routes.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..236601a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/tests/api/test_content_routes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+"""Route tests for the SSR content JSON API (api/content_routes.py).
+
+The point of these is the latency fix: a derived-store cache HIT must be O(1) —
+it must NOT load the ~45-year archive. So the weather layer is faked with call
+counters, and the core assertion is that a second identical request loads the
+history zero more times than the first. ETag/304 revalidation and the 404/payload
+shapes are covered alongside, against a fresh per-test store.
+"""
+import pytest
+from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+
+from web import app as appmod
+from data import climate
+from data import cities
+
+BASE = "/thermograph/api/v2/content"
+
+CITY = {
+    "slug": "testville",
+    "name": "Testville",
+    "admin1": "Washington",
+    "country": "United States",
+    "country_code": "US",
+    "lat": 47.6062,
+    "lon": -122.3321,
+    "population": 100000,
+}
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def counts():
+    return {"load_cached_history": 0, "get_history": 0}
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def client(monkeypatch, history, recent, counts, tmp_store):
+    """TestClient with the weather + city layer faked and the history loaders
+    wrapped in counters. tmp_store gives each test a fresh derived store so the
+    miss->hit sequence is deterministic."""
+    def load_cached_history(cell):
+        counts["load_cached_history"] += 1
+        return history.clone()
+
+    def get_history(cell):
+        counts["get_history"] += 1
+        return history.clone(), {"cached": True, "cache_age_days": 3}
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "load_cached_history", load_cached_history)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "get_history", get_history)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "get_recent_forecast", lambda cell: recent.clone())
+    # Stable token: content_token() -> payloads -> climate.history_max_date.
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "history_max_date", lambda cell_id: "2026-07-01")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(climate, "reverse_geocode", lambda lat, lon: "Testville, Washington")
+    # Only "testville" is a known city; anything else -> 404.
+    monkeypatch.setattr(cities, "get", lambda slug: CITY if slug == "testville" else None)
+    return TestClient(appmod.app)
+
+
+# --- the regression guard: a cache hit loads no history ----------------------
+
+def test_cache_hit_does_not_load_history(client, counts):
+    """First request misses -> builds -> loads history exactly once. A second
+    identical request is served from the derived store and loads history ZERO
+    more times. This is the whole point of the fix."""
+    r1 = client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville")
+    assert r1.status_code == 200
+    assert counts["load_cached_history"] == 1
+    assert counts["get_history"] == 0  # cached load was non-empty, no live fetch
+
+    r2 = client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville")
+    assert r2.status_code == 200
+    assert r2.content == r1.content            # replayed from the store
+    assert counts["load_cached_history"] == 1  # unchanged: no history load on the hit
+    assert counts["get_history"] == 0
+
+
+def test_304_revalidation_loads_no_history(client, counts):
+    """If-None-Match on a stored payload -> 304 with no history load."""
+    r1 = client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville")
+    assert r1.status_code == 200
+    etag = r1.headers["etag"]
+    before = counts["load_cached_history"]
+
+    r304 = client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville", headers={"If-None-Match": etag})
+    assert r304.status_code == 304
+    assert r304.headers["etag"] == etag
+    assert counts["load_cached_history"] == before  # 304 loaded nothing
+
+
+def test_month_and_records_hits_skip_history_load(client, counts):
+    """Same O(1)-hit guarantee for the month and records handlers."""
+    for path in ("month/july", "records"):
+        counts["load_cached_history"] = 0
+        assert client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville/{path}").status_code == 200
+        assert counts["load_cached_history"] == 1
+        assert client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville/{path}").status_code == 200
+        assert counts["load_cached_history"] == 1  # second call is a store hit
+
+
+# --- payload shapes ----------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_city_payload_shape(client):
+    body = client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville").json()
+    assert body["city"]["slug"] == "testville"
+    assert body["canonical_path"] == "/climate/testville"
+    assert len(body["months"]) == 12
+    assert body["today_vs_normal"] is not None  # recent forecast folded in
+
+
+def test_month_payload_shape(client):
+    body = client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville/month/july").json()
+    assert body["month_slug"] == "july"
+    assert body["canonical_path"] == "/climate/testville/july"
+
+
+def test_records_payload_shape(client):
+    body = client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville/records").json()
+    assert body["canonical_path"] == "/climate/testville/records"
+
+
+# --- 404s --------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+def test_unknown_slug_is_404(client, counts):
+    for path in ("city/nope", "city/nope/month/july", "city/nope/records"):
+        assert client.get(f"{BASE}/{path}").status_code == 404
+    assert counts["load_cached_history"] == 0  # never reached the archive
+
+
+def test_unknown_month_is_404(client):
+    assert client.get(f"{BASE}/city/testville/month/smarch").status_code == 404